GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – For years, the grey-colored tower was a familiar sight for those driving along Nicolet Drive on the city’s northeast side.
But starting Monday, buildings on the Eagles Nest site are coming down.
With a slow and deliberate approach, the excavator driver lined up his first target. Four buildings are set to be demolished this week on the 4.5-acre site in Green Bay, including the decades-old restaurant, and banquet hall called the Eagles Nest.
“Now, it’s just time to get those buildings down, start with a clean slate, and go from there,” said Matt Kriese, Brown County Parks Director.
Kriese tells FOX 11 Brown County bought the site to turn it into a park and boat landing on waters of Green Bay.
“The bay provides a trophy fishery, it provides an excellent recreational amenity for those users. Overall statewide, boat registrations are way up, and locally, all of our boating use is tremendously up.”
But not everyone is on board. Nearly 170 neighbors signed a petition against the development, including Lisa Kosmoski, who lives right next door.
“I think there probably still are some people that aren’t for the project. There are obviously some that are. So, I think, at this point, the county’s purchased the property, so we have to move on. We have to work together.”
Kosmoski’s neighbor Sue Anderson has mixed feelings.
“I think it’s a good thing as far as beautifying our neighborhood, because that was kind of an eyesore. I don’t know about the marina. I worry about the traffic coming through here, but we’ll see what happens.”
Park officials say demolition should take about a week.
“We’re happy to be able to provide this future amenity for the community once it is in place,” said Kriese.
He says it could be a couple years, before any boats are launched at the site.
Brown County bought the site for about $1 million dollars, but parks leaders say state and federal grants were used to cover the cost.
