With a $5.9M deficit at the marina, a new design hopes to propel more parts of Sheboygan’s waterfront

SHEBOYGAN – A concept design draft of Sheboygan’s marina revitalization project is finished after a series of design sessions last week moved substantial public unease to more positive reception.

The charrette , hosted by the city and SmithGroup, allowed the public to get a firsthand look at the design process and gave them a chance to share insight directly with designers.

“A lot of you are boaters and have visited other marinas across the country, even the world, so we wanted your input and ideas of what’s working, what’s not working, what we can make improvements on,” Mayor Ryan Sorenson said to attendees at a June 24 meeting.

Last November, the city announced intentions to revitalize the lakefront with more investments in Deland Park and $12 million dedicated to repairing the marina. After several months of gathering community opinion, a four-day design charrette began June 24 to allow the public a direct hand in real-time concept creation with architects.

One of the major goals of the revitalization was to recover from the debt the marina continues to fall under.

The marina has accrued $5.9 million in debt over its 30-year lifespan, said City Administrator Casey Bradley at the final meeting. The debt is a culmination of year after year operation loss with nearly $223,000 lost in 2023, similar to the yearly average, and its inability to pay back its initial cost to the county.

After an introduction at the June 24 session, attendees worked in groups to brainstorm ideas for the project. The resulting takeaways were filled with mixed thoughts and reactions to what SmithGroup had presented.

Some felt the park already had attributes SmithGroup talked about, and they needed to maintain and fix what was already at the marina and park. However, common ground was found in the need for more traffic safety and ways to utilize the existing space year-round.

“We tried having some initial discussions with folks, and everybody's like, ‘It's great the way it is,’” Bradley said. “We don't have a lot of people going down to it. And now I think people are kind of seeing that, yeah, there's a different use that is still a lot of fun. And I can go spend the day with my family and have a good time.”

Bradley said by the end of the week, some people he spoke with began to change how they saw the park, spurring discussions.

As SmithGroup designers and architects worked on draft plans during sessions June 25 and 26, community members filtered through the Kiwanis Park Fieldhouse to offer insight.

June 27, a concept design was presented to the public based on feedback gathered over the course of the charrette.

Tom Rogers, SmithGroup senior principal, urban design and waterfront studio leader, said over the week, the space's designs were edited to reflect feedback and what seemed to be working. Once three options were created, public feedback was given to choose one favorite, a design that was further changed to reflect aspects of the other options people liked.

Once a final design for the week was created, it was presented to the public.

“The advantage of a charrette is you get to make those decisions in real time together,” Rogers said. “The disadvantage is it's all very fast.”

What was in the proposed plan presented to the public?

Major changes suggested in the concept design include a consolidation of marina services, a waterfront promenade, and several buildings or structures for flexible use.

The promenade space could bring in restaurants, food trucks, shade structures for events and gathering, more trees, a splash pad and an ice ribbon.

The design called for new marina buildings, like a floating building with facility for restrooms, showers and a clubhouse; an administration building; and a fuel service and maintenance building.

Rogers said the current marina building is in “pretty rough shape,” and making repairs would be too costly to make it what they want it to be for the future.

There will also be about 240 to 260 slips in the marina, including more spaces for 40- to 50-foot boats.

There were also possible plans for road safety, a big concern from community members at the first meeting. Some ideas included speed bumps and complete streets, with considerations for pedestrians and bicyclists. Rogers said they’d work with the Department of Public Works to better understand the traffic patterns in that area.

Something that wasn’t in the original plans but came out of planning conversations were changes to Rotary Park and the end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Changes to Rotary Park included a natural amphitheater, paddle launch and kayak launch. Rogers said SmithGroup heard overwhelming comments at the onset about making a space for paddle craft but thought introducing that in the marina wasn’t the best idea.

Pier changes could bring a feature capable of deflecting waves and water flow coming from the Sheboygan River, which Rogers said the group saw tracking debris into the marina. They started conversations with the Yacht Club and U.S. Coast Guard about plans for this feature.

What happened to the marina pool in the plan?

Comments circulated around keeping the marina pool, which is ultimately not in the concept design.

Bradley said passionate people are on both sides of the pool issue, some wanting to keep it and others amiable to proposed changes. He said the city was concerned about how the marina could stop losing money.

It costs a lot to staff the pool and proposed changes wouldn’t need constant staffing for operation, Bradley said.

Rogers said community pools are always hot-button issues.

Why wasn’t the Sheboygan Armory site included in the recent design?

The April presentation suggested the former Sheboygan Armory site would be in revitalization plans, but Bradley said after internal conversations, the city isn’t sure what will go there.

“Our hope is to better understand out of this process, what the lakefront is going to look like, and then we can start working with potential developers on coming up with concepts that will complement what's going to be down there,” Bradley said.

The former Armory land has been a point of contention , with ideas for housing, parking and community green space.

How will the marina and waterfront project be funded?

It’s uncertain still how the marina revitalization project will be funded.

Bradley said marine-related aspects of the project would be supported by designated funding from TID 21. The city could apply for other grants, too.

“Our goal is to get it as close to zero as possible,” he said. “So, leveraging federal funds, leveraging state funds, potential private funds, whatever we can do to help reduce those costs.”

What did the public think of the proposed design?

While enthusiastic nods and sounds of approval rippled through the crowd during SmithGroup’s presentation of the current design concept June 27, after the meeting, some members of the public seemed to be less sure.

Some attendees shared concerns with the Sheboygan Press about future implementation and maintenance of an ambitious project and the marina’s part in the plan.

One community member who didn’t want to share their name said they want improvements along the lakefront but feel the proposed changes could be too costly for taxpayers and too costly to maintain. They feel the SmithGroup did a great job with what they were tasked to do, and it can be difficult to represent all community interests.

Another community member said they came to the sessions to see what ideas were being considered and ruled out. They heard advocates for more parking near the lakefront, but the concept design reduced available parking to 65% to 70% of what’s currently available. They also weren’t pleased with the ice ribbon and splash pad.

A significant number of sticky notes from the June 25 and 26 sessions said to do away with the splash pad and offer a public pool.

Others had concerns about the marina's future, although it was represented in the plan.

Boaters Michelle and Bruce Abrams retired to Sheboygan earlier this year, hoping to spend their summers in the lakeshore city. They were attracted to the city’s marina, set apart from others along Wisconsin’s coast because it had amenities like a pool. They also liked the available boat storage and observatory with a view of the lake.

They sold their home in Rhinelander and moved everything, but they were hit with the news the marina was changing.

“I was bawling,” Michelle said. “It was horrible.”

The Abrams feel like they’re in limbo with likely changes coming to the marina. To them, it feels like the marina amenities and spaces for boaters are shrinking. Michelle said she feels “eerie” about getting rid of the current marina building and replacing it with other buildings. She wasn’t blown away by the floating buildings.

“Once you give up the land for the marina (building), like the showers and boater lounge, that land is gone,” Michelle said.

Even though the marina has operated at a deficit, Bruce said he doesn’t think there’s enough discussion of the financial impact boaters bring to the city, whether it’s eating, buying groceries or getting gas.

“There's all these people that come in,” he said.

Bradley said one of the main goals for the project was to activate the area and create a space that draws people in for year-round activities. While boaters do use the marina, a big question was how the space could be revitalized for all members of the public to enjoy and help make it sustainable for the long-term.

Sentiments to prioritize boaters were echoed on sticky notes from June 25 and 26 sessions.

One said: “The marina is the most important feature. That means the boaters. Their convenience should be paramount. Everything else is secondary. I don’t boat!!”

Despite some wariness, Bruce’s reservations were a little alleviated by the city showing it is motivated to have a marina in the future and not get rid of it.

Rogers said other boaters came around to the idea of changes at the marina.

“This is a really passionate boater community, and there was a lot of positive feedback the last day, even from people who were really not sure at the start of this process,” he said.

Others were very pleased with the concept design. Some sticky notes added on poster boards shared approval of the lit splash pad, inclusion of surfers and more public seating.

After the presentation concluded June 27, many community members stayed to talk with SmithGroup and city leadership. In these conversations, positive feedback was given about the way SmithGroup listened to community input and created a detailed design reflecting the week.

While many community members still had questions, much of the conversation was in the spirit of idea generation and working together to further improve the design.

Approval was echoed by Ald. John Belanger, who said he liked the community inclusion in the concept design process and that public feedback was taken into consideration by SmithGroup.

“I’m impressed,” Belanger said. “I’m really impressed.”

Rogers said SmithGroup and the city are still at the beginning of project plans, with room for ideas to still evolve.

“The core of what everything is, and the organizational strategy, I feel really, really good about,” he said. “The details? We have lots of stuff to talk about to work on with that. But I feel like we have the building blocks in the right place and now we just got to kind of chip away at the clay.”

What’s next?

Rogers said last week’s events moved them to the middle of planning. Next, comes a survey, draft of the master plan, another open house, another survey and a master plan presentation.

The goal is to finalize a master plan this fall and get a design and construction bid out for the first phase by late 2025. Subject to funding, the first phase could be built in 2026.

Contact Sam Bailey at sgbailey@gannett.com or 573-256-9937. To stay up to date on her stories and other news, follow her on X (Twitter) @SamarahBailey. Contact Alex Garner at 224-374-2332 or agarner@gannett.com . Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @alexx_garner .

This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: With a $5.9M deficit at the marina, a new design hopes to propel more parts of Sheboygan’s waterfront