By Josh Staloch
Staff Writer
GREEN BAY – A public market, a rejuvenated Leicht Park, new residential opportunities and more of a big-city feel are all part of Green Bay’s near future, according to officials and planners at the 2022 State of the Broadway District, held on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at Gather.
Dozens of Green Bay area movers and shakers gathered as Brain Johnson, executive director of On Broadway, Inc. highlighted the things in the works for the Broadway District in an effort to revitalize the community, and keep businesses and people coming to the downtown area.
Johnson said the event drew another record-setting attendance between in-person, which was sold out, and virtual attendance, which exceeded 300 people.
“This is really an exciting time for us,” Johnson said.
A public market
Plans for a public market in the Old Fort Square building are taking shape quickly, and Johnson said ideally construction would be this fall, with completion by mid-2023.
He said tenant recruitment is already underway to fill the 20-24 retail spots expected to make up the market.
Taste on Broadway
Taste of Broadway, a popular annual Green Bay event, is set to get a reboot in 2022 after struggling in recent years due to staff shortages and pandemic-related issues.
Johnson said the new-look will focus on bringing in food trucks from all over the region for patrons to sample.
More to come soon.
A more lovely Leicht
The hope is to make better use of the waterfront space with things like pop-up beer gardens and movies in the park.
Johnson said nearly $5 million is currently available to invest in the area around Leicht Park, and plans to improve the dock space to accommodate cruise ships, which will hopefully be visiting Green Bay as a port of call this summer, are already in the works.
A walkable retail district
Residential components have been a missing piece of the Broadway puzzle for a long time, Johnson said.
Several years ago, the district made a commitment to recruit residential opportunities to the Broadway District.
He said that, realizing that people shop where they live, the district had set a goal of bringing in 200 new residential units to the area.
Right now, Johnson said, there are 900 units, either recently constructed or under contract in some way, shape or form.
“Our goal is to create a dense walkable environment here in the City of Green Bay,” he said.
And to do that, Johnson said they need to create an interesting walk for people.
“They want to see interesting things, like public art, banners, canopies,” he said.
Johnson said no design conversation is complete without talking about parking management.
“This is a really critical discussion, because parking is a solvable problem,” he said. “It doesn’t mean you ignore the problem. We recognize that parking is oftentimes an impediment, not because there is a lack of parking in the Broadway District, but because it is a perception problem. I guarantee, any time you go to the mall, or anytime you go to a big-box retail store, you will walk further to get into that store than you ever will in the Broadway District. Count your steps. I’ve done it.”
Johnson said people need to be given a reason to come downtown and they will come.
“Downtown Green Bay no longer has minimum parking requirements,” he said. “That used to be part of our ordinance, and what that meant is anytime a new structure came in, it dictated to that business how many parking stalls had to come with that.”
Johnson said the city eliminated that in order to let developers solve their own problems.
He said that doesn’t mean you eliminate parking.
“What it means is you eliminate surface lots,” Johnson said.
City’s reaction
Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich said he’s excited about the changes coming to the downtown area in 2022 and beyond.
“Hopefully, come next year, at this event, we’ll be celebrating a lot of the projects that we’re discussing here today,” Genrich said. “We’re certainly expecting a lot of progress with respect to The Shipyard, ongoing improvements at Leicht Park and the dock wall work we’re doing just to name a couple. I really think we’re on the cusp of some great things with respect to our downtown, both on the east side and the west side.”
A few other highlights include:
• New pole banners that should be going up in the next couple of weeks, featuring a new Broadway District design.
• Benches and garbage cans on Broadway will be getting some attention in the way of maintenance work.
• Lighting upgrades are planned for Broadway this year.
• On Broadway is currently looking for businesses interested in setting up parklets, which resemble decks or patios constructed within parking spaces on city streets to allow businesses to offer more seating or retail space.or extra space. Johnson said there are mini grants available through the city to help with installation.
The Broadway District includes businesses from the Fox River to Ashland Avenue bounded by Mather Street and Mason Street.
Visit onbroadway.org for more information.