|
Cooney News |
| Updated
May 2, 2005
You can still order an Animal Circus at
the Kiltie, or a frosty at Winger's Tap, but if the first
few years of the 21st Century are any indication, Oconomowoc is a
hotbed of change...... |
||
|
In Memory |
April 25, 2005 At 96 years, math instructor Dorothy Babcock passed on. |
|
|
Fire guts former St. Joan of Arc Church |
Oct. 7, 2004 Sparks from a welder's torch are believed to have started a fire that gutted the former St. Joan of Arc Church in Okauchee that was being rehabbed into a 14-unit condominium project. |
|
|
Mapping out Pabst Farms |
Jan.
5, 2003 Development of the
property is well underway with the opening of a new Summit
Elementary School and YMCA in Fall 2003, and the completion of a controversial
1,065,500-square-foot, $80 million Roundy's distribution
center. |
 |
|
County vetoes plan for new hospital |
Aurora Health Care proposed construction of an $85 million, 88-bed hospital in the Town of Summit adjacent to the Pabst Farms development. Opponents charge the controversial proposal would result in a duplication of services offered at Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital and drive up the cost of medical care in the area. Aurora Health Care to build new hospital in Summit? Sept. 16, 2004 April 27, 2005 |
|
|
|
The Waukesha County Parks and Planning Department has created an interactive Geographic Information System (GIS) of all lands in Waukesha County. If you are curious about a property, its boundaries, soil types, depth of well or value, you can find it here. Most interesting are the aerial
photos merged into they system that allow you to see individual
homes and businesses. Zoomed out, you can see how a land has
changed through the decades. We captured two views of
southeast Oconomowoc from 1963 and 2000. To access Waukesha County GIS , you must be running Internet Explorer |
|
|
|
Posted: Sept. 15, 2004Oconomowoc - Lake Country
Lutheran High School students have started fall classes in the
former Town and Country YMCA, 1101 Silver Lake St., delighted to
occupy a "real building with hallways" after attending
classes for years in a cluster of portable trailers. The
School decked over the pool and turned the area into classroom
space. |
|
|
Downtown Oconomowoc to redo it’s "backside" |
Oconomowoc Mayor Gary Kohlenberg puts it bluntly when he says the city "moons" Fowler Lake, referring to the stores fronting Wisconsin Ave. that turn their backsides to the lake. That may soon change as Oconomowoc gets serious about reorienting its focus toward its downtown lakes and revitalizing its businesses through the formation of a $19.6 million redevelopment district. |
|
Downtown
|
Posted: June 16, 2004Oconomowoc - Downtown
revitalization efforts are set to advance with the Community
Development Authority's approval of a plan to redevelop one area by
closing a street, extending another and creating more green space. |
|
|
Hwy 16 / 67 bypass construction starts |
It was on the planning maps for decades, politicians sought it and downtown businesses prayed for it. As of 2003, the much anticipated Highways 16 / 67 bypass is under construction to relieve traffic congestion through the city. But not all is rosy with the plan. Classmate Sue (Rasmussen) Rosenow's farm, home to five Rosenow farming generations, is in the bypass path. And, an update |
|
 Ken Parulski |
If you make photos with a digital camera, or watch television, you may be looking at some of the handiwork of classmate Ken Parulski .... White Plains, NY -- Fourteen new Fellows were honored at the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers Fellows Luncheon in October, 2002. Kenneth A. Parulski has been involved in digital imaging research and product development for over 20 years. A Research Fellow in the Digital and Applied Imaging division of Eastman Kodak Co., Parulski led the research group that developed the world's first color megapixel digital camera prototypes in 1986, and was the chief architect for Kodak's first consumer digital cameras in the 1990s. His paper entitled "Source Adaptive Encoding Options for HDTV and NTSC," received the SMPTE Journal Certificate award in 1992. He also proposed and helped develop SMPTE's 24 frame/sec progressive scanning standards, now used to master most film-originated primetime TV programs. Parulski, who has served on the SMPTE Board of Editors since 1996, is the author of more than 50 papers and has been granted more than 75 U.S. patents. PMDA Selects 2002 Honorees |
|
|
|
Classmate / Oboist Linda Strommen returned to Wisconsin for a solo performance with the Waukesha Symphony Orchestra. |
|
|
Public says goodbye to Summit School, property up for sale. |
Waukesha Freeman By STEVE LOUDEN For Steve Frankwick, Sunday was a day of memories. "One of my favorite is helping build this building," the retired teacher said. "I was a masonry helper." But schools are more than brick and mortar, and Frankwick also had a major impact inside Summit Elementary School's walls at every grade level. "I think I taught almost all of 'em while I was here," he said. "I was here 31 years. That's one-third of this school's life. I didn't think this school would ever leave." Frankwick started in 1958, after having finished his tour of duty in the military. "I was told they needed someone to straighten out a fifth-grade class," he said. "One boy had pinched another girl on the bottom, so I took him out of the classroom." But Frankwick was also a friend to the children. "I'd eat my lunch really fast and go out and play with the kids," he said. "I loved the noon-hour activities, such as four square. I still remember almost every kid's name I had in class." Frankwick had no sooner said this than one of his former fourth-graders stepped up to his side. "Pat graduated from Carroll College with a major in computer science," Frankwick said, introducing Patrick Lynkiewicz. "You loved playing four square with us, didn't you?" Lynkiewicz asked. "Yes, I did," Frankwick said. At the closing ceremony held for Summit School, Principal Barb Hirsch said the life of a school is like a circle, without either a beginning or an end. "We are who we are today because of the little things," she said. "Besides the memories, we will take with us the school bell ... and one of the murals." The school bell rang each year to mark the end of classes and the start of summer, and several nursery rhyme murals decorate one of the classrooms in the oldest portion of the school. These items, Hirsch said, will be relocated to the new building one-half mile east on Valley Road. "As we move forward, we will take part of the past with us," she said. Rose Marie Reich, also part of the school's history, walked through the hallways sharing memories with friends. "I firmly believe that the Pabst building was the best part of this school," Reich said. "People don't believe in the old. They want new." Reich retired in 1993 after 34 years in the Oconomowoc Area School District. It was during this time she met her husband. Ken Reich was a custodian and bus driver. "I brought him chocolate milk once while he was mowing lawn," she said. "I brought it from the creamery down the road." Each year, after Christmas, Reich said all-school studies were held on art appreciation. Under her guidance, the students would study horses, cats, still life and the like. "The kids who normally wouldn't say a word would demand to be heard," Reich recalled. "We had a lot of great art shows." |
|
|
Shorehaven to build new apartments, raze old facility |
Lutheran Homes of Oconomowoc will get a $40 million face-lift beginning in April when a nursing home will be built next to Shorehaven Tower and the former home will be razed and replaced with 93 independent-living apartments on Lac Le Belle. Tim Thiele, executive director of Lutheran Homes of Oconomowoc, said the new buildings are being constructed because the nursing home can hold about 242 residents but has only about 160 and the independent-living apartments have a five- to eight-year waiting list. "We are a large nursing home in a small community. Because of all the alternatives out there like in-home care, we are seeing less people entering the nursing homes," Thiele said. Lutheran Homes of Oconomowoc operates a sprawling complex for seniors on both sides of the 1300 block of W. Wisconsin Ave., the name for Highway 16 as it cuts through the city. Construction to begin in latter part of 2003 Waukesha Freeman 12/19/02 Lutheran Homes of Oconomowoc announced its choices of firms for the designing and building of the retirement complex's next phase of construction. Plunkett Raysich of Milwaukee has been hired as the architect, and C.G. Schmidt of Milwaukee will construct the newly proposed three-story, 150-bed nursing home. Construction will begin in the latter part of 2003, and will conclude no later than August 2005, when residents of Shorehaven will be moved to their new home. "After extensive interviews, we are very pleased with this decision, and know that these firms will assist us in doing the very best job possible," LHO Executive Director Tim Thiele said. "Seven firms bid on the expansion project, all of which were very qualified to take on this building endeavor." The new facility will be constructed on the south side of Highway 16, just east of Shorehaven Tower, on the land already acquired by LHO. An LHO-owned 88-unit self-storage facility and car wash exists there now. The selection committee consisted of LHO staff and several LHO board members, directed by board Chairwoman Gert Wilkinson. "The firms chosen will best pursue our plan of construction and add extensive experience and innovative input for the project," Thiele said. "We are excited about our work ahead." Thiele said LHO will now launch discussions with the city and the state to meet state and municipal requirements, as well as continue conversations with LHO neighbors and the community. |
|
|
St. Jerome's builds new school, plans senior housing for old school site |
Plans unveiled for new school Waukesha Freeman 12/3/02 An architect's rendering of the new St. Jerome Parish School provides the "ambience" the Rev. John Yockey said he was hoping to see. "I'm personally very pleased with the look and ambience of our proposed new school building," he said. "I have emphasized to Mike Groth, the firm's lead architect, any number of times that we want the school to look Catholic. We want the exterior appearance to convey a 'churchy' ambience." Groth and Smies Architects Ltd. of Cedarburg are joined by the general contracting firm of Voss Jorgensen Schueler Co. of Brookfield as the design team for the church and school. The new school will be built along Silver Lake Street, north of the current Town and Country YMCA. Congregation officials expect to break ground in the spring, with the building ready to open in the fall of 2004. "I think the Gothic arches over the main entrance of the school, along with a combination of the arch theme on various walls of the complex, definitely bespeak a center of faith and will blend in very beautifully with the Gothic arches and pointed ceilings of our new church," Yockey said. Yockey said church officials originally wanted to build the new church and school at the same time but then decided it was more important to get the new school open to meet the growing demands of students. The current school, located at Third and South Main streets, has a student population of 290, from 4-year-old kindergartners to eighth-graders. 2002-03 marks the 75th year for the school. "Our parish building fund, Building Foundations for Our Future, has raised over $5.6 million in pledges toward the construction of a new church, school and parish center," Principal Suzanne Zinda said. "With God's continual blessing, we look forward to celebrating our 75th school anniversary in a groundbreaking ceremony for a new facility with ample space for playground and outdoor athletic fields that reflect the rural landscape of our beautiful lake country." Construction of the new St. Jerome Church will follow at a later date. |
|
|
Soccer association plans game complex |
Waukesha Freeman 12/3/02 TOWN OF OCONOMOWOC - A new soccer complex to help meet the growing needs of the sport is being planned by the Oconomowoc Soccer Association, said Bob Buttendorf, the group's president. "We're running out of space," he said Monday, when talking about the 25 fields scattered throughout the Oconomowoc Area School District. "In a couple of years, that's not going to handle it." Buttendorf said OSA has a deal to purchase 40 acres on the northeast corner of McMahon Road and Highway K for a price substantially less than the fair market value of $15,000 per acre. "There are about 28 developable acres there, and we need about an acre and a half for each field," he said. Town Chairman (and former North Campus Principal) Joe St. Thomas said soccer officials have yet to meet with town officials to discuss any plans. "I think they're still in the preliminary stages," he said. "I don't even think they've met with the town planner." St. Thomas said the proposed site is zoned agricultural and would have to be changed to be used for soccer fields. Buttendorf did not say when OSA expected to be able to build and operate the complex. Currently, the soccer association has about $50,000 raised for the project. The estimated project budget totals $690,000, he said. This includes $275,000 for the land, $15,000 for design and planning, $250,000 for site preparation, $24,000 for goals, $25,000 for landscaping, $45,000 for a stone parking lot, $50,000 for a concession stand and $6,000 for a mobile irrigation system. "It's not uncommon to see $1 million spent on facilities like this," he said. The Oconomowoc Area Foundation recently gave the soccer association $25,000, and OSA has applied for a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Soccer Foundation. Buttendorf said other funding sources could include naming rights for the soccer complex, naming rights for the soccer fields and team sponsorships. This year, OSA provided services to more than 650 children from about 470 families in the area. Buttendorf said the number of participants is expected to be more than 1,000 in 2005-06. Players are ages 3 to 19. There are 49 teams comprised of boys and girls of various skill levels. Young players play recreational games, while the older players can opt for competitive play. Buttendorf said he did not believe the Oconomowoc soccer complex would create problems like those between the town of Merton and the Lake Country United Soccer Club Inc. "They have 1,500 players using a 13-acre site," Buttendorf said. "They don't have the parking. You can easily have 50 cars just for one game." The Oconomowoc proposal would include a parking lot for up to 400 cars. Buttendorf also said the town of Merton soccer complex was built next to a residential neighborhood. There is no major development next to the proposed site in the town of Oconomowoc. |
|
|
Going out without a bang? Oconomowoc 4th of July events cancelled
|
By STEVE LOUDEN Freeman Staff Declining revenues and the lack of a top quality carnival midway company forced the cancellation of the fire department's traditional Fourth of July events this year, the fire department's president said. Since the mid-1940s, the Oconomowoc Volunteer Fire Department has hosted a carnival, food court, live entertainment and a fireworks show, Deputy Fire Chief Glen Leidel said. "The Fourth of July has traditionally been the one major fund-raising event of the year for the OVFD," said Jennifer L. Menden, president of the volunteers. "Each year, our members have to weigh the various factors, and each year we see operating costs go up ... and overall income going down." During the past three years, Menden said, the fund-raiser has averaged a total revenue of about $35,000 per year. "Thirty-thousand (dollars) of that goes toward bills and operating costs, so that leaves about $5,000 as an income," she said Wednesday. "Obviously, that depends year-to-year on various factors weather, attendance." Several problems resulted in the declining income, Menden said. Topping the list was the fact that the carnival midway company the department regularly used, Rainbow Valley Rides of Almond, pulled out prior to last year's event. The company's reasoning, Menden said, was that the Oconomowoc event was not profitable enough. The OVFD was left with little time to find a new carnival midway company, she said, and the new company it landed, A & C Wenzel Amazements of Allenton, they found to be unimpressive. "Aside from the carnival midway being smaller in 2002, the food court that used to be a large draw was nearly nonexistent," she added. Menden said "the OVFD could not guarantee that we would be able to break even on operating costs in 2003" without the earnings from the carnival midway. "I think they felt it was better to take a year off than to put on a substandard event," Leidel said. The OVFD searched for a new company for this year's event. A select few were chosen, Menden said, and only one made any hint of commitment. Talks stalled when it came time to sign a contract, however, and Menden said the OVFD was unable to sign a carnival midway company. On March 17, the 35 firefighters and emergency medical technicians of the OVFD voted to cancel the traditional event, though they delayed explaining their reasoning until now. "We didn't want to jump the gun too far ahead of time," Menden said. "At that point, we weren't ready to cancel everything. We were still trying to see if there was something we could do." |
|