WEDC Secretary visits event center, housing, and Vibrant Spaces project
LA CROSSE, WI. JUNE 3, 2025 – Each initiative in the city of La Crosse is a chance to strengthen connections, foster inclusion, and build a city where vibrancy is shared by all who live, work, and visit. City leaders are focused on ensuring that every project contributes to a welcoming, accessible community where everyone can thrive.
“La Crosse’s goal is to be a community where vibrancy is evident throughout the city and experienced by all residents and visitors,” said Julie Emslie, economic development administrator for the city. “Where the barriers to finding a sense of place, home, and belonging within the community, at large and within oneself, are limited if not erased all together.”
Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes and other WEDC leaders are visiting communities throughout Wisconsin this year to celebrate their successes in building an Economy for All, by creating communities where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
In La Crosse, the city views each project as a chance to bring vibrancy to the community while also addressing an identified need.
“La Crosse is doing some really great things when it comes to improving their community,” Hughes said. “They’re looking at their community, identifying needs, and finding solutions on how they can address those needs while also making their community a place where people feel like they belong.”
Hughes was in La Crosse Monday and had the chance to see three projects that transformed underused spaces into places that meet a community need.
At the Hatchery, Hughes learned how owners Tiffany Smith and Marty Walleser saw opportunity in a two-story brick building in Riverside Park that was a former fish lab and transformed it into an event center.
The building, which was originally housed individuals who traveled from Manchester, Iowa to rescue fish that had overflowed along the Mississippi River, was underused and mostly inaccessible to the public. The city wanted to turn the building into a place where residents and visitors could gather.
With the assistance of a $250,000 Community Development Investment Grant from WEDC, Smith and Walleser created an event center that was designed to enhance the building’s historic charm and integrity. It also includes a rental lodging unit and a pub with an outdoor patio.
“The building is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, so the city needed a plan and partner that would have a vision of how to best move forward with what works with the building,” said Jim Flottmeyer, facilities and marine operations manager for the city of La Crosse. “The Hatchery not only took a building that was in need of repair and turned it into a great addition to Riverside Park that will stand for another 100 years.”
Hughes also visited Haven on Main, an ongoing project that will transform several vacant lots and outdated energy-inefficient buildings in downtown La Crosse into 70 units of apartments. Fifty-nine of the units will be offered at below market rate and half of the units will be reserved for adults with disabilities. The concept for Haven on Main was the idea of Haven for Special People, a community group dedicated to creating housing option for people with disabilities.
All the units will be powered by solar energy and other advanced energy technologies, which will ensure housing costs remain affordable. The project will also offer other amenities, including a community room, hair salon, fitness area, and communal gardens. Workshops, events, activities, and other engagement programs will also be offered for residents and the public.
The project aims to provide safe, affordable housing in a central downtown location.
“Safe and decent housing is a key determinant of health and an indicator of a community’s ability to support the health of its residents,” said Hetti Brown, executive director of Couleecap Inc., an affordable housing development agency. “Haven on Main will provide permanent, all-ability rental housing with social services available on-site or by referral, and coordinated access to services across delivery systems and disciplinary boundaries. This can reduce community homelessness, increase long-term stability, and improve health outcomes.”
On the city’s north side, Hughes heard about the city’s plans to turn a parking lot near a cluster of small businesses into Caledonia Place Park.
City staff have identified this La Crosse area as “short on foot traffic and sense of place,” Emslie said, and local businesses have been trying to find a way to change that. The existing parking area will be repaired, and one-third of the site will be turned into a visitor-focused space by adding cultural and artistic features and programming.
A $50,000 Vibrant Spaces Grant was the catalyst needed to bring all the pieces together and start the project, Emslie said.
“The redeveloped space will offer a social place encouraging human interaction, improve the vibrancy on the site, and be accessible to all,” Emslie said. “It will create a space near the businesses for people to sit and relax, have lunch, and attend an event. Overall, it will bring life to a currently concrete-heavy site.”
During the visit, Jon Bingol, executive director of Mississippi River Regional Planning Commission also told Hughes how it will use $250,000 in Small Business Development Grant funds will be used to support small businesses and entrepreneurship through a regional business plan competition, education and training for the creation of business plans, and grant funds to be used with revolving loan funds to gain access to financing.
