Mayor’s Column May 17, 2025
Rohn Bishop, Mayor of Waupun
Hello Waupun!
At last week’s common council meeting, we purchased a few parcels of land to help Waupun grow, modernize, and expand both housing and business opportunities. First, we acquired a small, but necessary, piece of land along Hwy 151 to allow for the connection of Shaler Drive. Buying this land, along with the increase in tax increment from the industrial park, along with a possible grant from Dodge County, hopefully we’ll see Shaler Drive connected from Hwy 49 (at new Kwik Trip) all the way to Hwy 26 (at truck stop).
And, if you’ve been out by the truck stop lately, you’ll see the new 18 Wheel Truck Wash is near completion, and construction has begun for the new multi-unit apartment complex. You’ll also see construction well underway for the new Eagle Flexible Packaging building going up in the industrial park. (Waupun has a lot going on!)
The second piece of land we purchased was on Libby Street across from the old Siligan plant. My goal is to get that developed as housing. The third thing we bought was the old Towne Woodworking building in downtown Waupun. The building is behind Brooks Shoes. The building is mostly in the way and a hazard toward safe parking. Our goal is to tear that building down and create more downtown parking spots. It’s part of our next phase of downtown improvements, to redo the rear lots. We’ll have more and safer parking, better rear entrances to business, and some ascetic improvements as well.
I would like to thank Jeff and Lisa for their help in us acquiring that building, and for all they do in general for downtown Waupun!
Mark your calendars for a couple upcoming events.
- Memorial Day parade and ceremony is on Memorial Day. Parade at 9AM and the ceremony about 10AM.
- The Waupun Summer Parks Program Summer Kick Off Event is scheduled for Thursday, May 29 at 5PM. Always a fun way to kick off the summer season!
Finally, the new set of rotating sculptures will be here soon, and I have been working on beginning a campaign to add a permanent sculpture to our collection of Mr. Shaler. I’ll have more details about that in next week’s column.
Thank you and enjoy your weekend,
Mayor Rohn
