A Rock For A Brick-And-Mortar

NOTE: The following article was published by the Green Bay Press Gazette in January, 2014 as an editorial.

A large rock on a vacant downtown Green Bay lot retains its lonely guard. This rock is a forgotten monument marking the spot of Green Bay’s first hospital ward dedicated to Dr. William Beaumont, an Army Surgeon stationed in Green Bay from 1826 – 1828 known as the father of Gastric Physiology. On this northeast corner lot of Chestnut and Kellogg streets once stood the Fort Howard hospital, officer’s quarters, and ward. Originally, these buildings and others made up the original Fort Howard on the nearby banks of the Fox River. These buildings now have a prominent spot at the Heritage Hills State Historical Park.

While our city strives to recover a once vibrant downtown we may bear witness to a loss of this history, as well as prime real estate and the beauty of the Fox River waterfront. One city block east is the abandoned Larson Canning Company building. This is the site of a proposed large brick-and-mortar retailer. This big box retailer has proposed building the fourth Walmart in the metropolitan area of Green Bay and its nearby townships. With a total population of roughly 200,00 one has to wonder how many Walmarts is enough? If four stores became a reality there would exist one Walmart for every 50,000 residents. This fact begs the question of retailer over-saturation and the possibility of narrowing consumer choice by eliminating other retailers in the area.

With a big box retailer in the downtown area comes litter and other waste products on our streets and in the Fox River. Downtown traffic will become overly congested, particularly on Broadway Street and its related side streets making recent street fairs and farmers markets nearly impossible. Most likely the Hospital Ward Monument and its vacant lot will be no more, as the space becomes a parking lot or out lot.

While a big box retailer brings tax income to the city it also will take away river frontage. This limited amount of river frontage should be used to carefully rebuild our downtown area into something unique and special. As an example, Leicht Memorial Park provides such an area attraction, which could be expanded on.

Perhaps the best remedy for this situation would be to have Walmart consider another location, perhaps in the Howard  / Suamico area. The recent possibility of Whole Foods Market moving to this spot is one such alternative. Whole Foods would have a smaller footprint and bring a new and unique retailer into the rebuilt Broadway district. With a smaller footprint Green Bay would have the ability to expand on its public use of the Fox River frontage. This public area should in some way memorialize the original Fort Howard location.

While preserving this valuable asset of land and river frontage we should also consider renewing and reinvigorating the weather worn Hospital Ward Monument, then moving it to a new home at Heritage Hills to occupy a small area in front of the original Green Bay hospital ward.

Scott S. Mertens