WAUPUN — The City of Waupun officially unveiled the new Waupun Community Center in a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony held Tuesday, December 3, 2024.
The ceremony, held in the grand new gymnasium, was filled with standing room only. City Administrator Kathy Schlieve led the speeches, opening with some history on the project, and how it has finally come to completion.
“A little more than one year ago on September 29, 2023, we stood on a grassy plot of land on the corner of Grace and Beaver Dam Street. There were grey skies if you remember that day, and we celebrated the groundbreaking of this facility,” Schlieve said. “At the time I said there was no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares for. I reflected on a partnership between SSM Health and Waupun Memorial Hospital and the City that had begun more than six years ago and sparked the idea for this facility.”
Schlieve went on to describe the process of collaborating with over twenty community partners who helped the City figure out ideas on how to best meet the needs of Waupun’s aged population. According to Schlieve, the new facility was just one of four project ideas that were proposed to meet those needs.
“I am really excited to see this come together—there is no doubt that the community knows what we care about today in celebrating the opening of this facility,” Schlieve said.
Prior to the new Community Center, the lot located at 520 McKinley St served as the location of the former Central Wisconsin Christian elementary school, where the school was founded in 1948. After CWC moved all of their classes to their current campus in the 2000s, The Waupun Historical Society moved into the building where it served as the James Laird Museum, until it was demolished in February 2022.
Leadership
Schlieve then invited former mayor Julie Nickel to speak. Nickel served as Mayor of Waupun from 2016 to 2022.
“Thank you for having me, it is my pleasure to be here. I hope I don’t get too emotional—this facility has been a passion of mine since I started,” Nickel said. “It marks a significant day for the residents of the City of Waupun and I’m so excited to be here and recognize this occassion.”
“Parks and Recreation has always been my passion,” she said. “I served on the Rec Board back in the early 2020s with Mayor Rohn when he was an alderman, and we saw a need for our seniors. Waupun has always had thriving youth programs but our seniors needed a place to socialize and exercise as well. When I left office we had just made the announcement of a $4.9 million Wisconsin Neighborhood Investment Fund grant awarded to construct this facility. Planning for that grant began in 2018 with the hiring of a full time recreation program director Rachel Kaminski—and what a wonderful part she’s played in our community.”
According to Nickel, the City partnered with SSM Health to form the Waupun Community Coalition on Aging in 2018 with funds received from the UW School of Nursing. The group collected community surveys and promoted the Senior Center and helped improve the former Senior Center building at 301 E Main St over the last six years.
“That facility has served residents of Waupun and the surrounding townships and communities, connecting people to resources, activities, and nutrition to manage wellbeing and improve quality of life for decades—but we have outgrown that space,” she said. “In February 2020 the Waupun Common Council approved recommendations of constructing a new Senior Center, however we were uncertain how we would fund this type of building. In August of 2021, Governor Evers announced the Wisconsin Neighborhood Investment Fund grant, made possible by the American Recovery Plan Act, and we saw an opportunity to realize a dream.”
“The collective effort of our community stakeholders and the in-house expertise of our staff lead to a successful grant application and award,” she concluded. “This facility is more than I think any of us imagined at the time. It will not only serve the needs of our seniors, but will benefit residents of all ages for generations to come.”
Nickel thanked the City Staff, SSM Health Board of Directors, the Waupun Community Coalition on Aging, members of the Park and Recreation Board, the Facility Advisory Committee, members of the public who gave input, and the Waupun Common Council. She also personally thanked Sarah Van Buren and Kathy Schlieve for their work in writing the grant on behalf of the City.
Mayor of Waupun Rohn Bishop was next to speak.
“The day I took office I thought they had the easy part,” Bishop said. “They got the grant and I had to not screw it up. But luckily with the leadership of Kathy Schlieve, Jeff Daane, and Rachel Kaminski this building came to be what it is. And like Mayor Julie said, it’s more than any of us envisioned three years ago—and the reason for that is that so many people in this community stepped up.”
According to Bishop, the City raised more money than they had originally budgeted for which went towards the many fixtures and amenities in the facility. Over $1 million was raised for this project from community sources which helped close the fundraising gap.
“This building is already busy all day,” said Mayor Bishop. “The seniors are loving it for pickleball, and I just joined the Senior Center Pool League. Rachel was busy last week deer hunting and Kathy can tell you how much those seniors keep you busy—and it was only a three day week for her.”
“This building is magnificent; I’m so thankful for all of you who came, I’m thankful for all the community members who donated, and all the businesses that donated,” he said. “But more important than that is the leadership that made this happen, so while I’m honored to be here as your mayor, in a lot of ways this is truly Mayor Julie’s night and I’d like to thank Julie for this and congratulate you on this day.”
Kathy Schlieve then extended her thanks to Cedar Corporation, the architectural and engineering firm for designing and guiding the facility, and SMA Construction as the general contractors who did the construction.
She also cited Rachel Kaminski and Jeff Daane for their input and expertise which helped keep the project on budget, as very minimal changes were done to the facility plans during the construction process.
Schlieve then described the funding process for the project, which included the funds from the State’s Neighborhood Investment Fund grant, along with some of the City’s own ARPA fund. She also brought the attendees’ attention to the donor wall, which can be found in the hallway straight down from the main entrance.
“It’s been a long journey to get to today,” Schlieve said. “As Julie said, it started in 2018. The construction itself took about a year, and I think you’re going to continue to see this facility evolve if not immediately. At first when the old Central Wisconsin Christian Elementary School was here I thought the site was really big and would accommodate everything we would have needed, but when we took the building down I thought it wasn’t that big. And when I first came inside I thought we are going to quickly outgrow this, because we’ve never seen a facility like this in the history of Waupun.”
“And so I hope that everyone that comes here is inspired to live well because our mission and our vision appears in the hallway, and it’s really about community and community building,” she said.
Sponsors
Schlieve went on to thank the facility’s sponsors, which included the National Bank and Trust Foundation and the Barbara and Peter Stone Foundation who donated a combined $750,000. Schlieve then invited Peter Stone to give a few words.
“We’ve been around the Waupun market for a long time,” Stone said. “In 2018 we entered into a partnership with NBW bankshares at the time, and both the bank and both foundations’ goal is to support our communities. The two things that we really like to support are youth programs and senior programs, because so often they get underfunded or left out. And because of that, both myself and my brother Adam, my mom and dad, and the whole bank, decided that this would be a wonderful project to help fund. I know that raising those grants and a lot of those other things was really tough but you were able to finish it off with a lot of community involvement. We’re all pleased with that, so congratulations to the Waupun community and enjoy the new facility.”
Schlieve then thanked SSM Health and Agensian Healthcare Foundation for their donation of $125,000, which was a combination of funds and equipment for the facility. She then invited Dianne Thurmer, president of Waupun Memorial Hospital, and Nicole Guell, vice president and clinical administrator for Waupun Memorial, to speak.
Thurmer spoke about how they were brought into the project and their devotion to serving the Waupun community with health initiatives. Guell spoke on the sponsorship that they contributed to the facility, which included $25,000 worth of equipment to the fitness center.
Following their remarks, Kathy Schlieve expressed gratitude to Michael Werner, who died this past April. Werner, one of the founders of the Werner-Harmsen Furniture Store and Funeral Home, was a large contributor to the community. Werner-Harmsen sponsored $125,000 towards the multipurpose dining and event room.
“For more than fifty years, Mike Werner helped shape the economic landscape of Waupun,” Schlieve said. “He did so by growing and diversifying his business interests, serving on boards and commissions, and through philanthropic giving. Today we celebrate Mike’s life by welcoming you into our new Community Center and recognizing his sponsorship of this place. This building and the room you stand in are testament to the lasting legacy Mike leaves Waupun.”
“Mike knew that community happens by design and not chance, and that connection and collaboration are necessary for strengthening quality of life for all,” she said. “Mike’s generous donation to our multipurpose space will be equipped with the latest technology and flexible furniture design to deliver new and different learning prograsms that will help people of all ages connect and thrive. We believe, as well as Mike did, that a space like this will be a lifechanging experience for many. There is no doubt in my mind that Mike left his mark on Waupun and that we are all better for having known him. Generations of Waupunites will benefit because of Mike’s lasting gift to the community and his contributions will forever be memorialized in these four walls.”
Schlieve also pointed out that Mike’s son, Judson Werner, was in attendance at the ceremony.
She went on to thank several more donors, including Fox Valley Savings Bank who donated $10,000 towards the conference room, which now holds the old City Council table. Another $30,000 was raised from past and current members of the Waupun Senior Center, who have been urging for a new facility for over a decade. $3,000 was donated by the Medical Exectuvie Committee at Waupun Memorial Hospital.
“Additionally, we’ve had individual donors step up as Mayor Rohn mentioned, and you will see several of those reflected on the donor wall,” Schlieve continued. “We will continue to grow that donor wall, we have people asking daily to contribute to the mission of this building and we are thankful for that.”
REACH and the Food Pantry
Schlieve then introduced the partner organizations in the facility, REACH Waupun and the Waupun Food Pantry. Both of these organizations have their own spaces on the east side of the building, providing a single location for all generations of community residents to meet and collaborate.
Jayne Harmsen, director for REACH Waupun, was the first to speak.
Harmsen first gave some background about the REACH program, which was established in Waupun in 2015 and has moved a total of seven times since being founded—and twice in the last year.
“Today, having a home, to me, is what the community is about,” Harmsen said. “The City has offered us a lease of five years with an extension of the same amount of time. This has given us a home, and that’s what I’m most grateful for. And I want to thank all of you. All of you donors, all of you community members for allowing us to be part of this home.”
She was immediately followed by Terri Respalje, who has run the Waupun Food Pantry for many years.
“There was always a vision for it and to be something for our community.” Respalje said. “It’s amazing when everybody comes together and has a mission in mind and that is to bless their neighbor and to be a community and to watch our, our young ones, get older and have a place to go and be safe. And not have to worry.”
“I look around and I walk through it, and it’s so expansive, it’s so fresh and new, and it’s exciting,” she said. “I have struggled, to be honest with you, I have struggled to be in here because I’m so used to just making do with what we have—holes in the roofs and you know, all that stuff. I look at the new food pantry and I just—it’s so overwhelming. My volunteers are amazing and helpful and so I can do what I have to do to get everything in there, so we can help the people of Waupun and really be that community that you all are wanting to help and support.”
“When I started the food pantry, my son was a baby. And I had him at the pantry with me. And I was hoping he could be here tonight because now he has a little girl and she’ll be running around in this food pantry. It is all about generations, and one thing I do know in life is that when you honor others—no matter who you honor but especially when you honor the elderly—that’s when the glory comes in. God smiles when you honor somebody else, and that’s what this whole thing is about—to make sure that the last generation and the next generation has a place to go to call home. So thank you.”
Recreation Department
The final speaker was Rachel Kaminski, director for the Waupun Recreation Department and the manager of the new Waupun Community Center. Schlieve gave a few remarks before inviting her up to speak.
“We’ve arrived at the moment that you finally all been waiting for,” Schlieve said. “I’m pleased to introduce our Recreation Program director, Rachel Kaminski. If you don’t know her, you need to get to know her. She is amazing. I had the opportunity to fill in for Rachel last week and I can attest to how busy she is, because I think I had all my steps in before I left the building each day.”
“This facility is in great hands under her leadership and I’m excited to see the things she’s going to be able to accomplish, and I never thought I would say that about a building but I believe this is transformational and it is going to have a huge impact on this community,” Schlieve concluded.
The attendees gave Kaminski an emotional standing ovation as she took the podium.
“A special thank you to our participants, volunteers and City staff that have made our building and activities strong and significant,” Kaminski said. “Community is about doing something together, that makes belonging matter. In the coming months, we’ll be adding more staff and expanding our hours of operation to reach more people. Today, we dedicate this building to current and future generations of Waupun. Our hope is that we have built a solid foundation that strengthens and that all who enter here are inspired to live well in their lifetime. Thank you all for coming to celebrate this milestone with us.”
The whole ceremony lasted about thirty minutes and was followed by a ribbon cutting and group photos.
The facility open house began at 3PM, with the ceremony beginning at 4PM. Following the ceremony the Receation Department and volunteers directed tours of the facility, which went until about 7PM.
The facility is composed of four main spaces: the Senior Center, Recreation Department, Food Pantry, and REACH Waupun. The Recreation Department operates out of the main offices at the main entrance, which is immediately followed by the Senior Center rooms, which include a billiards/pool room, reading room, and fitness center. Behind those are the dining and multipurpose rooms, which also have an attached kitchen.
The Food Pantry is located on the southeast corner of the building and has one large room and office space, along with a delivery area and large cooler. REACH, also located on the east side of the building, has a spacious activity room along with their own office.
The gymnasium takes up the entire north quarter of the facility, and includes a regulation sized basketball court and built-in pickelball courts.
A door prize and raffle was held in the multipurpose room, and if attendees participated in a scavenger hunt they received a second ticket. Refreshments and snacks were provided in the dining room and in the REACH room.
Notable attendees who did not speak include City Alderman Pete Kaczmarski, Alderman Dan Siebers, Alderman Mike Matoushek, Alderwoman Bobbi Jo Kunz, and former mayor Kyle Clark.
The “intergenerational” facility opened for the first time on October 21 of this year, but was not fully operational until the following month with the introduction of new gym equipment, and some finishing touches to some of the rooms and decor.
A recording of the full remarks from the ceremony can be found on the RadioPlusInfo SoundCloud page here: https://soundcloud.com/radioplusaudio/waupun-community-center-dedication-ceremony-12324
