Entertainment

County may give $138,000 to help pay for La Crosse Center fix

Published

5 years ago

August 7, 2019

La Crosse County is willing to donate to the La Crosse Center renovation project, with a one-time only gift for now.

A county committee has approved a donation of $138,000 to the civic center project, coming from funding that was left over from a county tax increment district.

The city of La Crosse would like the county to set aside $2 million over the next 20 years to support the convention center.

But county leaders are upset that the city didn’t ask them for help on the project until this year, and they feel left out because there’s no seat on the center board set aside for a county representative.

Just one executive committee member opposed the donation.

Doug Weidenbach says he’s ‘conflicted’ about giving money for the civic center project, after the county has been frozen out of planning for the remodeling.

Meanwhile, county supervisor Andrea Richmond, who also sits on the La Crosse city council, is planning to introduce a city ordinance to guarantee the county a seat on the La Crosse Center board.

Related Topics:La Crosse Center la crosse county tax increment district

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.