Downtown business owners wonder about their future Many want answers from the city By Patti Zarling For The News-Chronicle Although the De Pere City Council settled one major question by favoring a single four-lane bridge to replace the aging Claude Allouez span, many downtown business owners feel the decision created a hundred more unknowns. Some local proprietors feel the city hasn't given them clear answers about what will happen to their buildings once the new bridge is built, while others fear new plans will either divert traffic from their shops or leave patrons with no place to park. In some ways, the city can't give them answers. The City Council approved a conceptual plan for a single, four-lane bridge two weeks ago. Architects and planners will now spend months creating final design plans. In the process, the City Council must decide whether to purchase some businesses, including the De Pere Journal and Century Bowling Lanes on Broadway, as well as whether roundabouts on either side of the river are a good idea. Kathy Bressers, co-owner of William's Jewelers, 132 S. Wisconsin St., said she had been told all along that if the single bridge option was chosen, their building would be torn down and the business relocated. That was until a reporter and alderman walked into her store a few days after the vote and said plans were in the works to save the building by making Wisconsin a three-lane, rather than four-lane, roadway. "That was the first I had ever heard of that," she said. "There has been so many ups and downs in this whole thing. It's been such a mixed bag. We'd really like to know what's going to happen." She said she favored an option that would have created two two-lane bridges over the Fox River. But the council voted 5-4, with Mayor Mike Walsh casting the tie vote, in favor of a single four-lane bridge. Bressers said she would be okay with their building remaining, as long as adequate parking is provided. "We love our location," she said. "But only if people have room to park." She said Williams will remain in De Pere on the east side, even if they are forced to relocate. Other business owners aren't so sure they will stay. Dino Bilotti, who owns Bilotti's Pizza Garden, 113 North Broadway, said he will leave De Pere if parking becomes too much of an issue under new plans. His family has operated the restaurant for nearly 50 years. He expressed frustration that the city hasn't considered his business's parking needs, noting the city at one time tried to sell the parking lot north of his restaurant. There now are five parking spaces in front of his store and the adjoining buildings, and he fears that won't be enough, especially if a living bridge is constructed along the current Claude Allouez site. "My biggest concern is not to let the downtown area die," he said. "We've gone without answers for too long. If they don't plan carefully, the original downtown will be nothing, and this goes hand-in-hand with parking. We've seen 18 different plans and we still don't know what's going on." Tim Karls, who owns Century Lanes, 132 South Broadway, said he had always been told his business would relocate if a single four-lane bridge option was chosen. With league bowling ending in a few weeks, he said he is unable to tell his bowlers whether or not they will be able to bowl at Century next year. If he is going to move, he said he needs time to build a new bowling alley. Karls also said he does not support a double-lane roundabout on the east side of the four-lane bridge, as has been proposed. But he said he would favor roundabouts on the west side if that is what business owners and residents on that side of the river would like. Because the bowling alley is his livelihood, he said he feels as if his and his family's lives have been put on hold in the years the city has been pondering where to build the new bridge. While waiting for answers from the city, Kathy Kolanchick, who owns Moo Solutions on Broadway, said downtown businesses need to be proactive. "The decision to build a four-lane bridge has been made, so we need to move forward," said Kolanchick, who had supported the two-bridge option. "We just need to keep doing what we did when big box stores came to De Pere, keep telling people we're here, keep us in mind. We have to have people wanting to come here before all the changes take place. "I'm very apprehensive about the roundabouts, it will be cultural change for people on how to get from Point A to Point B. We have to have a plan of attack on getting them to want to come here." The four-lane bridge would also require removal of the De Pere Journal building. The De Pere Journal is a sister paper of The Green Bay News-Chronicle.