Waukesha County advances plan for $37 million building
Waukesha - With near unanimity, three Waukesha County Board committees Monday agreed with a staff recommendation that the planned $37 million health and human services building should be located close to the Juvenile Center, at the entrance to the current county office building and Riverview Drive.
Supervisor Kathleen Cummings of Waukesha was the sole no vote among 21 committee members, signaling enough votes on the 25-member County Board for passage at its July 27 meeting.
With assurances that the Moor Downs Golf Course would only be slightly affected - the fifth tee would be shortened but it would remain a par 4 - some committee members Monday raised questions about the fate of the existing human services office building when it's emptied. They also wanted to know if the resulting relocation of a county maintenance garage would infringe on the golf course.
Public Works Director Allison Bussler told supervisors the office building could possibly house courthouse staff temporarily when and if the county does extensive remodeling of the current courthouse. A study would begin next year. Eventually a portion of the health and human services building would be torn down but "a part does have historical significance" warranting preservation, she said. Moor Downs was a hotel and mud bath resort at the height of Waukesha's springs era.
"Our goal is to tear down the old building," said Supervisor Walter Kolb, likening it to Northview, the former county nursing home still partially used as a Huber Jail.
The proposed site will also mean the relocation of the county maintenance garage at an estimated cost of up to $900,000, consultants said Monday. Parks and Land Use Director Dale Shaver said two likely sites for it along Moreland Blvd. and along Buena Vista "will not take playable space off the golf course." Open space could be used for the building and berms could help hide it from neighbors, he said.
