Fond du Lac

Joining hands to restore a downtown gem

Fond du Lac builds long-term success with collaboration

Strolling through Fond du Lac’s charming and vibrant downtown today, it’s hard to imagine a tired-looking business district in need of investment and a makeover. Yet, years of tireless work and community collaboration have transformed Fond du Lac’s downtown into a hub of business and social activity recognized statewide and nationally.

Amy Krupp

“You can accomplish so much more if you have the support and partnership of organizations and community leaders,” says Amy Krupp, executive director of the Downtown Fond du Lac Partnership. “We’ve had success because of consistency in leadership. That helps because we want to keep evolving and growing and building.”

Restoring the central business district took a coordinated effort that continues to bear fruit for the city of 44,000 on the south shore of Lake Winnebago.

Patience, persistence, and progress

The years of improvement were spurred by community action. The Downtown Fond du Lac Partnership is an independent nonprofit that governs the city’s Business Improvement District, which was set up in 1999 to help renovate the downtown.

Then, in 2004, the city became part of the Wisconsin Main Street Program, which provides intensive technical assistance from WEDC’s development staff and consultants. And a comprehensive development plan was completed by 2010 and rewritten in 2015.

“Wisconsin Main Street and the additional resources it provides have done so much for downtown Fond du Lac,” Krupp says. “Their ongoing training helps educate our new employees so they can be effective. I’d love to see more Wisconsin communities as part of the program.”

Fond du Lac benefited from number of visits from Wisconsin Main Street staff and consultants, including plans to address vacant storefronts, market analysis, and fundraising recommendations. Business and property owners in the district have taken advantage of photography and merchandising assistance, and staff has completed 94 renderings of properties in the district, resulting in numerous renovation projects.

By 2015, about $87 million had been invested in downtown, helping to improve 158 buildings and develop 133 additional housing units. A total of $15 million went to bolster the Arts and Entertainment District, which helped establish the Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts and the Danlann Artist Townhomes and Art Gallery and supported the successful conversion of two former churches into a restaurant, offices, and senior housing.

An improvement loan program was set up by a local bank, and the Downtown Fond du Lac Partnership created a Building Improvement Grant and a façade improvement program to add new luster to the downtown. The city created a downtown residential loan program to encourage upper-story residential development.

Downtown events like the farmers market attracted more visitors, and the city bought an old riverside grocery store and converted it into Hamilton Park.

Momentum is recognized and continues

In 2015, the Main Street America organization recognized Fond du Lac with its prestigious One to Watch Award as a place that was making great strides in using the Main Street approach to revitalizing its downtown.

The drive to improve downtown has continued in subsequent years. The eight-story Hotel Retlaw, built in 1923, was renovated and opened as a boutique hotel in 2019. The popularity of downtown events swelled, and a $90,000 Community Development Investment Grant through WEDC helped redevelop a historic livery stable which is now home to the 18 Hands Ale Haus. The farmers market has grown, attracting more visitors and vendors, and the number of different downtown events has risen to 21.

“There are a lot of people who don’t like vegetables, but they come down because they know that’s the place to be. It’s a community social area,” Krupp says. “And we have 11 downtown walk events during the year designed to get people into businesses,” he adds, referring to retail-based events in which patrons walk from one business to another to participate (with examples including wine walks, foodie walks, cookie walks, and art crawls).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Main Street Bounceback Grants, awarded to encourage businesses to move into vacant commercial spaces throughout the state, helped sustain business district development. They were so effective, according to Krupp, that the city funded a continuation of a similar program.

In 2022, Fond du Lac won five Wisconsin Main Street Awards: Best New Business, Best Cooperative Business Marketing Campaign, Best Special Event, Best Façade Rehabilitation Under $20,000, and Best Public Improvement Project. The Downtown Fond du Lac Partnership achieved Gold Tier Main Street status in 2024—the first year this honor was available—indicating that the organization demonstrates effective strategic planning, strong board operations and engagement, and effective community partnership.

Since joining the Wisconsin Main Street Program, Krupp says the downtown has attracted $148 million in private investment. Along the way the Downtown Fond du Lac Partnership awarded $1.13 million in grants that leveraged $7.4 million in investment.

“It takes a long time to complete big projects,” says Krupp. “These things don’t happen overnight. But, in the end, they pay off for the whole community.”