The Daily Reporter articles from May 2004

The Daily Reporter archives from May 2004

Cedarburg considering additional library space.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan The city and town of Cedarburg agree they need more library space, so they're discussing how much more they need and how they can split the project cost. "Their main questions are size, location and operating costs,"...

Steel prices could boost cost of Camp Randall Stadium project.
May 5, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell The renovation of Camp Randall Stadium, the nation's fourth-oldest football field and home of the Wisconsin Badgers, will cost an extra $7.8 million, administrators said. The University of Wisconsin Board of...

Commentary: Rising construction costs could become problem.
May 5, 2004... Byline: Donald Croysdale Increasingly, it seems we live by numbers. Numbers are everywhere - as are the interpretations. Last week's initial report on gross domestic product growth for the first quarter 2004 showed a 4.2 percent gain....

Wauwatosa floodplains to be converted.
May 6, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District's areawide $210 million flood-management program will come to Wauwatosa this fall, creating green spaces on about 90 properties that flooded in 1998. During the late 1990s,...

Hospitals receive bioterrorism grants.
May 6, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Thanks to $5.5 million in federal grants, hospitals around Wisconsin will soon be beefing up their facilities to better prepare for bioterrorism threats. The bulk of the grants, totaling about $1.5 million, are...

Commentary: Purchase of development rights program's success depends on informed taxpayers.
May 6, 2004... Byline: Matt Moroney On Friday, The Daily Reporter ran an article on the efforts of a group of citizens in the town of Hartford in Washington County to preserve open space through a purchase of development rights program. Other...

Public-private group to award $100M in federal tax credits.
May 7, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan Next year, a public-private group will be ready to dish out Wisconsin's $100 million in federal tax credits to projects that create jobs and stimulate development. The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development...

The Boldt Company to win Constructor of the Year award.
May 7, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Thomas J. Boldt, chief executive officer of the Boldt Company, keeps a clip file in his office at his firm's Appleton headquarters. He said he cuts interesting items and news about the industry from around the...

House committee approves bills to speed OSHA judicial review.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan A U.S. House committee has approved four bills aimed at speeding the judicial reviews of Occupational Safety and Health Administration citations and better protect companies that issue challenges, a move backed by the...

Contractors found guilty of violating environmental laws.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell The chief federal prosecutor in Madison last week scored two victories against construction firms, and he said the verdicts should put the industry on alert for violating environmental laws. "(The judgments)...

Milwaukee's housing efforts shift focus.
May 11, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee's housing redevelopment in the Lindsey Heights area is nearly complete in the area south of North Avenue, so the program is starting to shift its focus to vacant lots farther north. For the past four years,...

Milwaukee's Park East plan could cost city more.
May 11, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Public investment in the redevelopment of Milwaukee's Park East corridor will be much greater than originally expected, renewing calls for an affordable-housing and prevailing- wage ordinance. "It confirms the...

Area officials criticize Taxpayers Bill of Rights.
May 12, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan Local officials in southeastern Wisconsin banded together during Monday's Southeastern Municipal Executives meeting to criticize Republican legislators on the Taxpayers Bill of Rights. "TABOR aside, tax freeze aside,...

Commentary: Will the Milwaukee Brewers find a buyer?
May 12, 2004... Byline: Donald Croysdale Miller Park remains one of Milwaukee's premier construction successes. Our industry can be proud of a structure that will identify Milwaukee for decades to come. But what is less certain is just who will own Miller...

Milwaukee mayor seeks approval to build $24M water, public works facility.
May 13, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is seeking Common Council approval to use the turnkey delivery method to build a $24 million water and public works facility on the Tower Automotive site. The new 255,000-square-foot...

Milwaukee mayor chooses first city architect.
May 13, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell In a move displaying his commitment to development, Mayor Tom Barrett has chosen design professor Robert Greenstreet to serve as Milwaukee's first city architect. "The whole vision of this was essentially to take...

Supreme Court rules Gov. Doyle exceeded authority.
May 14, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell The state Supreme Court on Thursday nullified key terms of the tribal gambling compacts Gov. Jim Doyle signed last year, upholding a challenge from Republican legislative leaders. "We agree with the petitioners...

Signature Homes donating sales to Children's Hospital.
May 14, 2004... Byline: Brendan O' Brien Developer Robert Schoelzel pledged to show his appreciation to staff at a local hospital after they cared for his child nearly nine years ago. Stricken with severe pneumonia, his daughter Maggie was nursed back...

Price of cement in American is on the rise, demand outstrips supply.
May 17, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan The price of cement in America is on the rise because demand has outstripped domestic supply and the cost of buying it from overseas is increasing. "Obviously, there's a huge boom in China and consequently China is...

Milwaukee, Chicago carpenters unions merge.
May 18, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell In another round of shakeups for the Carpenters union, national leadership earlier this month finalized a merger of the Milwaukee and Chicago regional councils. "I think it's probably good news for the union,"...

U of Wisconsin-Madison seeking private developer for new dorms.
May 19, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Faced with a need for speed, the University of Wisconsin-Madison is turning to a private developer to build a new $70 million dormitory. The project is part of the university's ambitious east side campus master...

Milwaukee's zoning committee defers talks of new Harley-Davidson museum.
May 19, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee deferred its discussion of the new Harley-Davidson museum until Friday but approved a slew of smaller projects Tuesday. The committee was to consider selling...

Elmbrook School Board officials posing $100M building referendum.
May 19, 2004... Byline: Brendan O' Brien After three years of diligent evaluation and needs assessment, Elmbrook School Board officials are close to posing a $100 million referendum building project question to district voters. As early as next...

Commentary: Developing a training culture.
May 20, 2004... Byline: Wayne Belanger Joe worked in construction since he graduated from high school. He went through formal training and his supervisor took the time to explain the how and why of any new project. They would discuss the finer points of...

Plans unveiled for high-class retail shops downtown.
May 21, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Wispark LLC has offered the first floor of its new office building in downtown Milwaukee as the location for a Greater Milwaukee Committee plan to create a cluster of high-class retail shops. "What we need is a...

Federal transportation report spurs debate on state highway funding priorities.
May 21, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell A new federal report on state transportation spending is fueling a sparring match between contractors and a group skeptical of funding priorities. On Monday, the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association...

Taliesin Preservation Inc. created to protect and restore Wright's ancestral home.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell In March, the rains came to Spring Green, where Wright built his home, Taliesin, on the ancestral land of his mother's family. And for the first time in years, when the rains left, there was no water in the basement....

Milwaukee alderman backs Harley-Davidson's plan to build motorcycle museum.
May 24, 2004... Byline: Jeremy Harrell The president of Milwaukee's Common Council is throwing his weight behind a proposed $60 million Harley-Davidson motorcycle museum in the city's Menomonee Valley. Alderman Willie Hines, elected council president...

Search for Dept. of City Development commissioner continues.
May 25, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan The Barrett transition team is looking through a list of a dozen potential Milwaukee Department of City Development commissioners to find one who is both an urban visionary and solid manager. "We're moving with...

Common Council of Franklin approves task force appointment.
May 25, 2004... Byline: Brendan O' Brien The Common Council of Franklin approved the appointment of a task force to negotiate with a major health-care provider and an established developer the details of a proposed $76 million mixed-use development. ...

Milwaukee Common Council OKs land sale to Harley-Davidson.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan After a divisive argument where even supporters had misgivings, the Milwaukee Common Council Tuesday voted 11-4 to sell the Traser Yards to Harley-Davidson for its new museum. The city has long planned to move its...

Commentary: Milwaukee officials considers separating sewers.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Donald Croysdale Even if you spread it over a few years, $3 billion or $4 billion is a fair piece of change. But it has not taken Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett long to seek out dollars from suburban taxpayers to take care of what...

Alliant Energy, WPS Resources to build power plant.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan Alliant Energy Corp. and WPS Resources are planning to team up and build a 500-megawatt power plant and expect to apply for Public Service Commission approval in December 2005. "We're thinking that it's likely to be a...

Commentary: Despite current weather, quality water is an issue.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Matt Moroney Despite the recent rains, the city of Waukesha is facing a serious water supply problem that could have a very serious impact on its economic development. Waukesha has been ordered by the U.S. Environmental Protection...

Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District passes state fine onto Michels Corp.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Sean Ryan Michels Corp. has agreed to pay the $10,000 fine the state levied against the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District for a sewer overflow that occurred during the contractor's project last July. "We don't want to...