Town aims to take mill, Button Factory for park

The years-long saga of the embattled Waubeka Mill and Button Factory may be on its way to closure, at least as far as Charles Sheridan and his son’s involvement.

The Fredonia Town Board on June 11 approved a plan to exercise its power of eminent domain to take both adjacent properties and convert them to public use, Clerk Christophe Jenkins said.

Sheridan bought the Button Factory in a 1990 auction from Ozaukee County, and the county might get it back, along with the mill, which Sheridan bought in 2019 for $1,000 and later turned over to his son.

Jenkins said the town would give the properties to Ozaukee County, which would convert them into a park.

“The county has access and resources to grants to raze the properties that the town does not. Plus, the county would like to see these areas turned into a county park space,” he said.

County Administrator Jason Dzwinel said the county would have the mill and adjacent Button Factory removed to allow more public access to the Milwaukee River.

“The county has long wished to partner with the town to secure the parcels in an attempt to protect the river,” he said. “We have endeavored on the same with the current owners through a land donation without much success. Should the parcels be donated, the county would be in position to seek grant funds to remove the structures and develop public access to the river.” .

Sheridan said the town has not formally notified him of its intent to take the properties but he heard about the vote at last week’s meeting.

Sheridan, who lives in Illinois, grew up in Milwaukee and said he fell in love with the Milwaukee River in Waubeka when, as a student at Marquette University, he saw the buildings and old dam on a winter day.

“It’s just that I’m very sad because my son and I thought we might be able to restore these facilities,” he said. “That would create business, tourism and a water-based business. We don’t seem to be getting any support in that regard.”

Sheridan has been trying to turn the buildings into a number of businesses or residences for the past several years.

Soon after he bought the mill, Sheridan told county and town officials he wanted to create “artificial whitewater rapids” for canoes and kayaks, and that the site had potential for a small hotel and restaurant with a patio overlooking the river.

But the largely dilapidated mill has asbestos, a cracked foundation, rotted support beams and a roof in need of repairs. Fuel once leached into the ground below the road from a storage tank under the mill. Part of the roof once collapsed, exposing asbestos.

Sheridan tried to donate half the mill to the county but was denied. The county was only going to accept the entire building.

Years ago, Sheridan tried to have the Button Factory property rezoned to single-family residential, but the town’s Plan Commission denied the request, citing the building’s location next to a floodplain and doesn’t meet setback requirements.

Sheridan has sought investors to help him restore the foundation of the Button Factory, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The idea of turning the factory into a commercial boathouse was shot down in 2022 because the building lacks the required 10-foot setback from the river.

This spring, Sheridan started what he said was a $40,000 job to clear debris from the collapsed west side of the mill. But he is only allowed to spend 50% of the structure’s value in repairs, Ozaukee County Sanitation and Zoning Specialist Barry Sullivan said. The building was last assessed at $2,540, so Sheridan can only complete $1,270 in repairs.

Anything more than that and Sheridan would need a building code variance, which the county has repeatedly denied, saying the buildings are in a floodplain, have essentially no setback from either the road or river and are grossly out of code.

The Town Board in spring declined to issue a raze order on the properties because that would likely require an engineering study and it couldn’t find a firm to do the job.

Most recently, the town put up a fence around the mill — it is sending Sheridan the bill — in order to open one lane of traffic on Mill Street, which had been closed due to the building’s condition.

Sheridan said if the historical buildings are torn down, “people are going to lose the legacy,” but he said he will wait to see legal documentation before determining his next move.