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Thursday, July 4, 2019 • Vol. 137, No. 50 • Stoughton, WI • ConnectStoughton.com • $1.25
Stoughton Area School District
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Redevelopment Authority
Developer shares vision for riverfront AMBER LEVENHAGEN Unified Newspaper Group
Students ‘excel’ in summer MACKENZIE KRUMME
Inside Read about two of the classes this summer Page 12
Unified Newspaper Group
Classrooms at Stoughton High School are still full of activity this summer, as students use virtual reality goggles to travel to South America where they develop writing, geography and social studies skills. That class is one of more than 40 offered as part of the Stoughton
Area School District 2019 Summer Excel program, which has more than 650 enrollments. For two or four weeks, these free classes offer students opportunities to get a “taste of classes they wouldn’t normally be exposed to,” Chris Keenan, the
summer Excel principal said. Classes for students vary from birding, fencing, podcasting and elementary Spanish to math and literacy. The classes are offered to students going into four-year-old Kindergarten through eighth grade. This year classes are completely free to students and run through July 12. Summer school teachers are almost always district employees, meaning they are committed to teaching, said Keenan, who has worked in Stoughton school district for 22 years. “That demonstrates the dedication of the teachers to students and families of this district,” she said.
Stoughton Fair debuts Strongman competition ‘We are a town of strong people’ MACKENZIE KRUMME Unified Newspaper Group
Jimmy Brooks hopes the new Strongman event debuting at the Stoughton Fair shows “we are a town of strong people.” “The ‘t-o-u-g-h’ in Stoughton means tough,” said Brooks. The Strongman event is set for 11 a.m. Sunday, July 7, in the Grandstands.
Brooks, a former Fox Prairie elementary school teacher who now owns Primal Fitness, has been organizing this free event for the past six months. Guests can expect 27 athletes to compete in five events within three divisions. The stone to shoulder event requires competitors to roll a 380 pound concrete ball, or “atlas stone,” up their body and onto their shoulder. Another event called
Turn to Strongman/Page 10
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Jimmy Brooks, owner of Primal Fitness, demonstrates the fingals fingers competition, which will take place 11 a.m. Sunday, July 7 at the Stoughton Fair. Photo by Mackenzie Krumme
Imagine sitting on your porch not far from Stoughton’s downtown looking at community gardens or a courtyard, watching people fish on the Yahara River. There are apartment buildings – including one built with reclaimed bricks from a historic building – and townhomes around the block and a brew pub with a terrace overlooking the river a short walk away. Curt Vaughn Brink LLC pitched this vision for the riverfront redevelopment area to the Stoughton Redevelopment Authority on June 26, and now the commission will have to determine whether that developer will be a good fit to take the lead in developing the city’s riverfront. Brink is the remaining developer who responded to the city’s request for interest in the project, and the meeting was the first with a developer in a process that began months ago. The “request for expression of interest” is more open-ended than what the city tried
two years ago, when it ended up with an Appleton developer that eventually backed out when it sensed the city and RDA were not on the same page. Brink’s plan, put together with the help of design firm Potter Lawson, got rave reviews from some commissioners and Mayor Tim Swadley but also inspired some critical questions about how realistic the vision might be and how much taxpayer support it might require. The RDA has set a deadline for the end of summer to consider the proposal. With no other developers remaining – two backed out over the last two weeks – the group could either move forward with Brink or return to the drawing board. Doug Hirsh, an architect with Potter Lawson, said the goal of Brink’s plan was to create a neighborhood that is “authentic to Stoughton.” “We want this to be an extension of the city so it feels like it was part of the city all along,” Hirsh said during the meeting.
Turn to Riverfront/Page 11
Home Garden Tour explores ‘paradise’ Fundraiser for Olbrich Gardens comes to Stoughton MACKENZIE KRUMME Unified Newspaper Group
For the first time, Stoughton is featured in Olbrich Gardens Home Garden Tour.
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If You Go What: Home Garden Tour When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, July 12, and Saturday, July 13 Where: 1814 Hildebrandt St. Cost: $15 Info: Olbrich Gardens, 246-4550
Stoughton Youth Football Registration for the 2019 season is still open
Go to www.stoughtonfootball.com for more information.
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Photo by Mackenzie Krumme
Kristin Rosenberg, helps students produce personal podcasts during summer excel courses Wednesday, June 26.
SASD gets ‘taste of classes they wouldn’t normally be exposed to’
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