WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) — A long-standing commitment to build a skywalk from the Dudley Tower to an adjacent parking garage in downtown Wausau was given life by the city’s Finance Committee Monday night.
The City of Wausau agreed to build the skywalk from the tower to the McClellan Street parking garage during negotiations for the construction of the tower. A reservation of the project by Finance Committee Chair Lisa Rasmussen has always been the longevity of the McClellan ramp itself, but she says there’s clarity on that issue.
Rasmussen said, “Given the fact that it was relocatable and reusable, and that there were applications beyond the life of the McClellan ramp, I think that this option is certainly more reasonable than some of the core concepts that we heard years ago.”
Walker Parking Consultants had worked with Wausau to create a concept for the ramp, which the city purchased outright. The agenda for the meeting included a vote to execute a contract with Walker Parking, but Rasmussen suggested something that caught the attention of the rest of the committee.
“If there are a number of firms that wanted to compete for the project that have the capability to do it, that’s a totally different animal than if it’s kind of a niche and you’ve got one or two state wide that may or may not even do it. That’s something that I think we should clarify so that it’s clear in the record,” said Rasmussen.
“We may open it up for bids, find we get a bid or two and you still like this one, but at least then you know what’s out there. If it’s not going to delay the timeline and we’re not going to create a ton of extra expense by going through that extra step, it kind of sounds like the committee might be more comfortable with that.”
The skywalk project will now go through the request for proposal process thanks to a unanimous vote. Mayor Robert Mielke, while not on the committee, supported the decision of the committee.
