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Stoughton
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Thursday, September 20, 2018 • Vol. 137, No. 9 • Stoughton, WI • ConnectStoughton.com • $1.25
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The
stoughtonhospital.com
Blacksmith shop
City of Stoughton
Blazing a trail Extension forwards city’s plan for 5-mile trail around river ALEXANDER CRAMER Unified Newspaper Group
Rendering courtesy Stoughton Redevelopment Authority
An open-air market, like the one in the rendering above, is one potential option for the century-old Blacksmith Shop. The building would have to be stripped of its roof and brickwork to ensure its stability - at an estimated cost of $200,000 meaning any potential developer would be working with a steel skeleton.
Shop options
RDA considering whether to stabilize century-old structure ALEXANDER CRAMER Unified Newspaper Group
The dust has settled in the riverfront redevelopment zone, and the former Blacksmith Shop is the only building left standing. In the coming weeks, the city’s Redevelopment Authority will decide what to do with the century-old building. It’s been busy gathering information, and Monday, Sept. 24, it will hold a brainstorming session during a special meeting, looking for ideas from members of the local development community. At its last meeting, Sept. 12, the authority heard an engineer’s report about the steps necessary to keep the building available for a potential Photo by Jim Ferolie developer to use, which would reduce To stabilize the Blacksmith Shop, engineer Kurt Straus outlined a plan that would much of it to its steel structure. And remove the east and west bays (where roof is failing and the large brick wall is standing, respectively) and then buttress the remaining the structure with cables.
Turn to Shop/Page 13
Unified Newspaper Group
John
Vo r n d r a n ,
Here for all students Ahlgren brings long-time joy of learning to new SASD job
Vorndran
died Aug. 7 at age 82 after struggling with debilitating illness for much of the past decade. Vorndran served as restoration coordinator during the 18-year effort to return the Opera House to its past
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splendor. It re-opened in 2001, and Vorndran was recognized with his name e n g r av e d o n a b r o n z e plaque that’s displayed near the theater’s front doors. He
Turn to Vorndran/Page 5
Unified Newspaper Group
Growing up in suburban Chicago, Kate Ahlgren always had the best-educated stuffed animals in the neighborhood - at least, that’s what her sister said. “Energized” by both learning and teaching at a young age, the new Stoughton Area School
District director of curriculum is looking forward to continuing her path in education, especially working with district Ahlgren teachers to “help students really discover the best path in themselves.” “ I t ’s t h e p r o c e s s o f becoming a mirror and allowing students to see the brightness inside of them and see all their possible selves,” she told the
Turn to Ahlgren/Page 14
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BILL LIVICK
longtime city resident remembered for leading the restoration of the Stoughton a Opera House,
Turn to Trail/Page 13
Stoughton Area School District
SCOTT DE LARUELLE
Vorndran remembered as Opera House restorer Also named Citizen of the Year in 1997
More than two years after the project was first approved by the council, a Yahara River Trail extension has been cut on the city’s north side, though it will be surfaced with gravel as opposed to the asphalt that was originally intended. The council approved the change last Tuesday, and by 6 p.m. on Wednesd a y, a c o n t r a c t o r wa s nearly halfway finished blazing the 10-foot-wide, 1,361-foot-long trail. Ald. Regina Hirsch (Dist. 3), chair of the parks and recreation committee, urged fellow alders to approve the change, saying “parks and recreation really wants this trail in this year.” “Later on we can always pave it when we have more trails going in,” Hirsch added. “That’ll be a bigger trail going in to Settler’s Point in a year or two to make it a bigger bid for an asphalt company.”
The extension is part of a vision to create a fivemile loop around the Yahara River just north of the city. It’s also part of the plan to connect Stoughton to Madison by trail, with the county’s long-term goal to extend the Lower Yahara River Trail south to Viking County Park. The existing trail goes north from Amundson Park along the river to Viking Park. A separate segment extends from the pedestrian bridge at Cooper’s Causeway north to the business park. Currently, the river trail runs on paved streets for several blocks as it heads east from the causeway. With the new extension, people can head down the hill behind Stoughton Hospital to take the trail east along the river, where it passes a few scenic overlooks, including a good view of an osprey nest. The next steps would be to extend the trail from the hospital to Cooper’s Causeway, build a pedestrian bridge across the river at Settler’s Point, near the intersection of County Hwys. N and B, and continue the North Trail from