The Yard’s opening delayed to 2025

Heather Graves

Staff

September 16, 2024

ALTOONA – Though the original plan was for The Yard in downtown Altoona to open in 2024, with the containers not yet in place, Assistant City Administrator Roy Atkinson said residents will have to wait until 2025 to enjoy the one-of-a-kind container park.

“It’s been a very long project – definitely a labor of love, as we like to coin it here in the office,” he said.

Making sure the project meets all universal codes, Atkinson said, has pushed its completion to next spring.

“No one has done this in the State of Wisconsin at this scale,” he said. “There are ones that have been done, but they haven’t been done up to code.”

As a municipality behind the project, Atkinson said, “we want to do everything above board – everything has to be to the T of our ordinance.”

“We’ve had to work through making sure that all these are code compliant – and that has really been the big snag,” he said. “(The project has taken a couple of years), and we have been working very closely with the container developer – Containers Up out of Milwaukee – to ensure that this project is code compliant and it’s up to snuff. We’re getting there.”

Atkinson said the project is about three-quarters of the way finished.

The pedestrian-friendly streetscape located in front of the Division Street site – which includes lit pathways and vegetation – he said has been completed.

“We actually just received approval from the council for the plaza design and infrastructure work,” he said. “So, we are hoping to be done with infrastructure work by the end of the month, early next month. We are hoping to place containers around there as well.”

The project’s delayed timeframe, Atkinson said, has sparked questions from the community – some even questioning whether it was going to even happen.

“We’ve been steadfast throughout that the project is happening,” he said. “We have released updates sporadically and overall, people are excited.”

Altoona, Atkinson said, has had great success with new developments, and The Yard “is just another opportunity.”

“This project is going to be pivotal in supporting the local business community,” he said. “We hope it serves as a good model for incubation and provides a good step in eliminating barriers for entry.”

A bit more info

Atkinson said the city’s primary goal when it applied for a Neighborhood Investment Grant Fund was to lower the barriers for local businesses to enter the market.

The Yard, situated directly in front of the Union Pacific railyard in Altoona – which Atkinson said inspired the project’s name – aims to do just that.

“We wanted to help eliminate barriers to entry for small businesses, revitalize downtown and create a unique public space for residents and people from our region to enjoy – which in turn drives the local economy,” he said. “We looked at the amount of foot travel we have in our downtown and this seemed like a winner.”

In all honesty, Atkinson said the city didn’t know if the idea would work – “it was kind of like a pie in the sky idea.”

“We had this city-owned parcel and ($1.377 million in) grant funds, and we asked ourselves, ‘what can we do that is creative and at the same time helps our community and the economy of our downtown core?’” he said. 

Atkinson said the container park will have a total of five vendors – three restaurants, a taproom and a retailer.

The restaurants will be Ne-Ne Taco’s, owned by Rene and Rhoda Perez; Beast & Bonito, owned by Evan Mowry; and EJ 2, owned by Cara Yang.

“We have Mexican-style, we have an Asian-inspired restaurant and then we have a seafood-style vendor,” Atkinson said.

The Yard will also have a taproom called the Iron Horse Saloon, which Atkinson said is owned by Mark and Hope Anderson.

“A bar in Altoona, they’re going to do the taproom,” he said. 

Atkinson said The Yard’s retail tenant is Coulee Boutique out of Galesville and is owned by Anna Ledebuh.

“All of the vendors that started with us in the beginning are still with us, and they’re invested,” he said. “We’ve been meeting with them quite a bit about shell leases and talk about programming – get them in at the ground floor as partners in this.”

If the park succeeds, he said there may be opportunities to expand it into the future.

In addition to the containers, which will house each of the vendors, Atkinson said The Yard will have a variety of seating options – including an elevated seating area where visitors can overlook the space and the nearby railyard – as well as a stage.

“We’re hoping to program out several days a week,” he said. “We’re hoping to bring in movie nights, music and dancing.” 

Atkinson said the city is even looking at potentially renting out the space to the public.

“If people are having an event – they can come in (and utilize the space),” he said.

When The Yard opens in spring 2025 – “we are looking at a late-April, early-May timeframe” – Atkinson said the plan is to have it open all four seasons.

“It’s going to be a trial-and-error thing,” he said. “We’re going to learn from it as a city, and as an organization working with those vendors.”

Atkinson said the hope for The Yard is two-fold – “seeing the enjoyment of our residents and providing opportunities for the vendors to succeed.”

“If we can check those boxes, that’s everything – we’ve done our job,” he said. “For me, that’s the most important. We want to be successful on all fronts.”

Though it’s been a long project, Atkinson said it’s “all going to be worth it.”

“We are very excited to provide this a successful concept,” he said.

For more, visit ci.altoona.wi.us.