By Shereen Siewert
A $1.5 million proposal to transform a portion of the Wausau Chemical site into a business incubator that would have housed a 300-person event venue and other amenities is no longer in the works, city officials confirmed on Friday.
The proposal for Wausau Barrel House and Cannery incorporated a co-packing cannery, winery, kitchen and food truck stalls with both indoor and outdoor seating. The project was proposed by Dan and Kimm Weber, owners of Timekeeper Distillery in Wausau, and Lyn Kearns, president of Mosinee Brewing Company.
The group’s proposal called for purchasing the former Wausau Chemical container cleaning property at 180 E. Wausau Ave. for $40,000, $2,500 more than its $37,500 assessed value.
But Wausau Economic Development Director Liz Brodek said the project has since been dropped. The reason for the withdrawal is not immediately clear, though Brodek said she believed the change was “related to covid.”
“There is no immediate plan to re-issue (a request for proposals) for that site,” Brodek said.
The Wausau Barrel House and Cannery is one of several projects to fall through for the city’s north riverfront area. In December, plans for a brewery and restaurant were also rescinded, projects that were received in response to a September 2019 request for proposals.
The $1.5 million proposal for Karma Brewing Company, which would have been located at a roughly one-acre parcel at 101 Devoe St., called for new construction of a 4,500- to 5,000-square foot building for a brewery and gastropub.
A second plan for a $600,000 Founders restaurant, which would have featured a bar, restaurant and outdoor seating, was also pulled.
New RFPs for those locations have not been issued.
