Wausau Economic Development Committee Takes No Action on Proposed Indoor Event Space

Wednesday, September 4th, 2024 -- 8:00 AM

(Mike Leischner, WSAU) After a brief closed session, the Wausau Economic Development Committee took no action for or against a proposed indoor event space near Athletic Park which developers insist is just weeks away from a soft opening.

According to Mike Leischner with WSAU, Matthew Aschbrenner says he and his family have already sunk a significant amount of money and work into the building, which he hopes the committee sees as a good-faith effort to make a small business work in that space without public dollars.

“The money we have put into this is over triple our budget. This business needs to be up and running and we need to be in there for a very long time before we have any plans to sell the business.” Kristen Aschbrenner noted in the last week they’ve finished the flooring.

Matthew added that their kitchen equipment was installed just before Tuesday’s meeting. The Aschbrenners had been concerned that the city would exercise buyback rights to the property because it wasn’t ready for occupancy.

But when the committee emerged from closed session Chair Carol Lukens announced there would be no motion for them to vote on. She added that Interim Community Development Director Randy Fifrick would talk with the developers about the next steps.

Matthew Aschbrenner says they intend to have an occupancy certificate by early November and have already booked an event for November 7th. Other events have been booked for December as well.

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