La Crosse Center business manager retires after 36 years with the city

The La Crosse Center expansion project continues throughout this year to build for the future…but one long-time staffer is moving on. 

Thursday is retirement day for Sue Wieman, after 21 years at the civic center, and 36 years in La Crosse city government. 

Wieman started with the police department in 1985, and went through other departments until going to the La Crosse Center in 2000.

She has been business manager, along with supervising the box office and working 18-hour days coordinating concerts and other events, and she looks forward to business returning to the center after the construction and COVID-19.

“A lot of people think that what we do is concerts, because we have the arena” said Wieman. “Concerts are a big part of who we are, but we also do a lot of conventions, trade shows, meetings, weddings.”

Wieman recalls that the first concert she worked on backstage at the Center featured Def Leppard and Joan Jett in February of 2000. But some of her favorite events have been the WAMO dart tournaments, and cheerleading and dance team contests.

Wieman is optimistic about what the La Crosse Center expansion will bring.

“It’s always exciting here because it’s not another type of business where we do one thing,” she says. She’s especially happy that the center was chosen to host 18 games of the WIAA state basketball tournaments in the past month.  

Wieman plans to stay active with a wellness and nutrition business.