SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (WHBL) -- The construction of a new downtown apartment complex is set to break ground next week, but not without some difficulties.
Mayor Mike Vandersteen says ground breaking is scheduled for June 16th on the Boston Store apartment project on 8th Street. "The groundbreaking will be held in conjunction with the Levitt AMP Concert that evening, so that will be the first item and then the concert will follow that evening." However, the actual start of construction will have to be delayed to allow for more ground remediation to remove harmful debris left over from the Prange's Store fire. "When the Pranges store burnt down it appears that a lot of things were pushed into that hole and they built a store on top of it. That's something that couldn't happen today, but back then I guess some people looked the other way."
The city can't simply turn that cost and project over to the developers of the project, because the site is still city owned property. "That's going to cost the city about an extra half million dollars to remediate this problem. The council has appropriated the funds to do this. There'll be some extra earth moving work that has to be done on that site to pull all that stuff from the basement out."
The construction on the site this year has moved the Levitt AMP series to the nearby John Michael Kohler Art Center for the season. The series kicks of next Thursday with the all-female mariachi band Flor De Toloache.