Street talk: On the skids at P. J. By Tom Murphy News-Chronicle That's a real can of worms open at Palmer Johnson, one of the nation's premiere pleasure boat builders. The Sturgeon Bay company now is operating under protection of Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy laws (hold creditors at bay until - and if - an effective corporation reorganization can be accomplished). We've been told that the special investigator appointed by Bankruptcy Court Judge Russell Eisenberg will find that certain Palmer Johnson assets have been sold to a British Virgin Islands firm. That's a defined no-no in Chapter 11. We shall see. The report is due to the court at the end of this month. Not quite as disconcerting, but nontheless troubling, is Gov. Jim Doyle's announcement that Burger Boat of Manitowoc will receive a loan/grant of some $2.1 million if it hires displaced workers from Mirro Aluminum and Palmer Johnson. We have absolutely no problem with Burger hiring former Mirro employees. With PJ, it's something else. For years, Palmer Johnson's claim to fame was its fine woodworking and finishing. Something in the Scandinavian make-up about working with mahogany, teak and other fine woods. So, assuming Burger wants to qualify for the loan and continue its own very good reputation for boat building, including woodwork, it will try and lure the best from PJ. To lose your best when you're struggling can only hasten your demise. The problem is public (Community Development Block Grant) monies are being allocated by Doyle for Burger. Somehow it doesn't seem fair to use taxpayers' money to help push PJ out of business and erase the just financial claims of the boatbuilder's creditors. Many of those creditors are small business people in Northeastern Wisconsin. In today's economy it doesn't take many unpaid bills to put pressure on hard-working, dues-paying business people who honor their own debts. You can argue that hiring PJ workers helps them, their families (and the state because they continue to pay taxes), and you have a point. But to entice an employer to raid another company before all issues are settled doesn't quite fit. AVAILABLE There are 3,000-square-feet of prime office space for lease in the lower level of the spanking new Kress Family Library in De Pere. The view is extraordinary: Voyageur Park and the Fox River. Interested parties may contact Dean Gazza at the Brown County Facility Management Department in downtown Green Bay, 448-4055 or get some preliminary information from Pat LaViolette, County Library Director, at 448-4400. You ask: "Why is the county in competition with private property owners who have space/land for lease?" Fair enough. The natural slope of the Kress Family Library property on North Broadway gave owners just one chance to lay footings for future expansion. LaViolette and others involved decided to build for that future and do the groundwork for growth. That offers the 3,000-square-feet for lease since the library probably won't need the space for a decade or more. What's more, leasing-until-needed helps offset the initial building cost and the tax levy needed for operations. So there! IVAN'S RETURNS De Pere native Colleen Wallace and her husband, Mark Shiffer, are ready to re-open Ivan's as Ivan's. The restaurant and bar continues in the former bank building (several lock boxes and vintage pictures are part of the decor) at 127 N. Broadway. No, none of the unsavory Chicago gangs of the 1920s ever was known to show up uninvited. Ivan Mataya operated Ivan's Zig Zag, a popular saloon as well as a bar, at the site for years and years. Joe Van Deurzen reopened the spot in the early 1980s and ran it as Ivan's until 2000. It was My Place until Shiffer/Wallace came along. They plan a Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday dinner from 4-8 and daily luncheons from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday-Saturday dinners will be served from 5-10 p.m. A grand opening is slated for Monday. Shiffer is from the Chicago area and Wallace has her degree in hotel management from the University of Las Vegas. Her father, Hank, retired after a career as teacher and administrator at Northeastern Wisconsin Technical College. Murphy, a longtime local business writer, writes a weekly column for This Week. Contact him by calling 920-432-2941, sending mail to P.O. Box 2467, Green Bay, WI 54306-2467 or by sending e-mail to [email protected].