COVERING THE WATERFRONT

HarborPark development brightens downtown Kenosha

Projects include condos, a new museum and streetscape work

By Jessica Gosz

New England Builders of Skokie, Ill., is the general contractor for Kenosha's newest addition of condos and town houses. The entire housing project is scheduled for completion in 2005, but additional work is still being contemplated. The buildings were designed with a neotraditional look.

For more than a century, a 69-acre property in Kenosha was used as an industrial area.

Today, the former environmentally troubled area, now known as HarborPark, is becoming home to a lakefront community with businesses, town houses and a museum.

The site, former home to the American Motors Industry, was packed with manufacturing facilities, but the site was leveled to make room for a variety of changes in Kenosha's downtown, said Debbie Damiano, sales executive for HarborPark.

"We've turned it into a beautiful cultural area," she said. "Rather than being crowded, it's quiet and a nice residential area."

Creating this new cultural area didn't happen overnight. In 1992, work began on a streetscape project and plans to improve lakeshore businesses, said Zohrab Khaligian, community development specialist for Kenosha.

"The streetscape helps to get volume back and make downtown more historic," he said. "Everyone wants to come back to old Main Street."

Khaligian said the city applied for funds to loan to interested building owners to get businesses up and running again. The building owners had to make improvements based on Kenosha's design, and so far, five projects have been completed in that fashion.

Attracting residents

Since residents are key to downtown business, plans for condos are also in the works. In October 2000, work began on three blocks of condos in the downtown area, Damiano said.

"There will be 254 condos and town homes, and over half of the units are sold," she said.

The condos and town houses, being built by New England Builders of Skokie, Ill., are scheduled for full completion in 2005. Three of the six blocks that will house the condos have now been complete, Damiano said, and work on the fourth block began in June.

More condos and town houses may also pop up in the future. Ray Forgianni, director of city development for Kenosha, said those additional homes may be rental spaces, but the city is open to other options.

The new residential area will help keep shoppers in the downtown area, but the city has also made changes to get people from the surrounding area to go downtown and shop. Khaligian said people who go downtown want to park directly in front of the business they intend to visit, but since there's not always enough parking available, the city decided to install special lighting.

Kenosha's streetcar system connects the HarborPark region to the existing central city area. The $2.5 million system is operated with five historic President's Conference Commission streetcars from the 1950s.

He said the city opted for the lighting to expand the view of the area and to make it easier for patrons not to park directly in front of businesses because the additional lighting makes the area safer.

"Each light is 250 watts," Khaligian said. "Usually it is 100 (watts)."

Other developments have already been completed to compliment the ongoing housing construction. A new two-story building, designed by Engberg Anderson Design Partnership Inc., Milwaukee, was built for the Kenosha Public Museum.

There are three plazas across from the museum site, including Place de Douai, which is named for Kenosha's sister city in France.

Place de Douai includes a Wallace fountain, which is probably the only one of its kind in the country, Forgianni said.

With new residents moving to the area by 2003, Kenosha has developed plans to bring in new stores, including a line of grocery stores, Damiano said.

"The waterfront has some of the best property to sell," she said. "We want to bring people back downtown."

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