DE PERE — A nearly 150-year-old building is slated to be demolished this summer, following environmental studies into the site where it has stood since about 1883.
The building, 126 S. Broadway, had previous lives as a general store and a Dutch-language newspaper, De Volkstem (The People’s Voice) and later, the De Pere Journal, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
It also once housed the Brown County Democrat.
De Pere Common Council approved spending $2,500 for the environmental study by Cedar Corporation of Cedarburg.
According to the city, the environmental study is in addition to an environmental assessment, additional soil borings, groundwater monitoring wells and sampling work that has already been completed at the project site.
It includes doing two cross-section (north-south and east-west) diagrams that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) requested. The diagrams will detail subsurface features.
According to Mayor James Boyd, demolition will be done “later this summer.” He said the city does not currently have plans for the site.
The businesses most recently at the location, The Tile & Stone Gallery and The Saltbox Lighting, relocated to new storefronts near the former Shopko site.
The city bought the two buildings from the owner, John Wagner, in 2024 for $600,000, according to state property transaction records.
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