by Joseph Back You may (or may not) think that the City of Stanley has enough restaurants for a town its size (what with A & W Restaurant, Kelly’s Bar and Grill, Deano’s on Broadway, Martino’s Pizza, McDonald’s and Panda Garden all among the local options). Nonetheless, specifically listed on the Comprehensive Plant prepared by the West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (WCWRPC) among current downtown ‘weaknesses’ to correct is “Need a restaurant in Town.” The vision statement contained in the same document is also clear: “A thriving and vibrant downtown, which serves as a destination and is home to culture, retail, and restaurants,” the final draft of the City of Stanley’s Comprehensive Plan (“Plan”) states as its vision for 2040, or twenty years hence. The draft Plan was given the Stanley Plan Commission’s stamp of approval at its October 6th evening meeting at the Stanley Fire Hall.

Stating that the downtown area is important both as a community hub and for forming visitor’s first impressions among other reasons, the Downtown Subplan put together by the West Central WCWRPC as part of its city-commissioned study has more details. Before getting to those details though, just what are the boundaries of the “downtown” area in question?

Beginning on South Broadway at an eastwest line following Oak Street, the boundary of downtown Stanley turns north up Washington Street to include the Health Styles LLC building property on Maple Street before jumping across the railroad tracks to round the old depot building and turn west into the First Avenue alley past Kelly’s. From there the line turns north again at the Associated Bank property to encompass both the old City Hall building and Plombon’s Furniture warehouse together with the old F & M Bank drive-thru site. From there it continues north briefly before shifting west in the alley between Fifth and Sixth Avenue just past Plombon’s Funeral Home to follow North Broadway Street, taking in both Stanley Truck Sales LLC and the Open Doors Academy as its far northern boundary.

Then turning west to embrace the outer limits of the Sunset Homes property before shifting back east onto Fourth Avenue and heading south down the alleyway between Barber and Broadway Streets, the official “downtown” area of Stanley also includes the veterinary clinic facing First Avenue and Barber Street while turning west again to encompass the railroad area up to McKnight Street. From McKnight it turns east onto Maple Street and through the alleyway between Helgerson and South Broadway. Turning back west at the Crossroads property and then south on Helgerson, the official boundary for downtown Stanley rejoins its origin point at the corner of Oak and Helgerson Streets, just south of the Stanley Area Historical Society. With the boundaries for Stanley’s historic downtown being thus defined, what are the details for Stanley’s renaissance?

Flipping the report order somewhat to start things off with the general (“additional”) recommendations made, the Downtown Subplan

Staff photo. prepared by the WCWRPC has several ideas to consider and reflect upon. Among these is to “draw upon the resources and Main Street-style principles of the Connect Communities program through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation for downtown revitalization assistance.” These resources could be used to develop and implement a marketing plan and brand for downtown Stanley.

Along with the above, the Plan advises striving to “maintain a unified two-story facade wall with commercial uses on the first floor and, where applicable, residential uses on the second floor.” The Plan then emphasizes developing a community brand to market the downtown area, and to work with community partners “to redevelop the downtown area as a traditional, family-friendly city center with mixed commercial uses and professional services, using Veteran’s Park as a focal point.” Utilizing “façade standards and repetitive design elements” such as landscaping, signage, street furniture, fixtures and pavement unique to the downtown is also recommended. Promoting the infill and continuity of commercial and government uses in downtown while maintaining the traditional character with limited higher density housing development is called for in the Plan. Conversion of first-floor buildings to residences should only be allowed where the commercial aspect is maintained, the report says.

So much for the general idea. What about specifics? For this, the report is divided into four main sections: Access and Linkages; Uses and Activities; Comfort and Image; and Sociability.

Beginning with Access and Linkages, the downtown area was identified to have many strengths. Listed among these in the report are the ease of walking and biking to and within downtown, the accessibility to everyone, its closeness to the highway and easy access. Along with strengths though come opportunities for improvement. Among these are a perceived lack of “visual cues and signage to encourage visitors to explore the entire downtown as well as signage to connect downtown to other community destinations, and the lack of signage and wayfinding from highway 29 to entice passing motorists to stop and take a look around. After strengths and opportunities comes recommendations and strategies, as follows, In the first place, the Downtown Subplan put together by the WCWRPC recommends to “improve street and sidewalk maintenance.” This is determined as filling potholes, painting crosswalks, and just around the seasonal corner, to “enforce shoveling of sidewalks during the winter months.” For warmer seasons though, make a trail!

“Develop a key multi-use, recreational trail” the report recommends next. The trail system in question would serve to connect several different areas of town, “specifically downtown, Chapman Park, School, and the east side business park,” the report states, including a trail around the whole of Chapman Lake. Previous meetings have explored the idea of converting disused rail rights-of-way near Fandry Park and elsewhere into bike paths, though this would take the cooperation of the railroad. Creating a downtown “image” plan to include “landscaping, lighting, sidewalk treatments, façade treatments, and signage to tie-together the downtown area through common amenities, visual cues and aesthetics under a shared theme or brand is also recommended.” Finally, under Access and Linkages, increased signage at Highway 29 to entice visitors downtown is recommended.

Shifting to Uses and Activities as the next component of downtown success, the Stanley Theater is listed among the ‘gems’ of the community and greatly valued by residents. City parks, along with Kwik Trip and the “Shoppes at Broadway” are big winners. While survey residents felt the overall mix of stores was satisfactory, they desired more variety in restaurants and additional community activities such as the Farmer’s Market, along with activities for youth.

Listed in the area for improvement on downtown were a low frequency of community events and activities, a desire for the downtown to be more ‘alive’ and active, more nighttime and winter activities, and more quality housing in or near the downtown area.

Among the strategies to get there were attracting more and new businesses to meet the demands of the market as determined through supply and demand. Also included were the provision of activities centered around seniors and youth, increased opportunities for outdoor dining, shopping, and other services, and the forming of an economic task force to collaborate between the private and public sectors in reviewing incentives and strategies to encourage business growth.

Moving on to Comfort and Image, most survey respondents reported feeling safe in downtown Stanley, while the benches along Broadway provide comfort and improve the appearance of the downtown. Alongside these two strengths, survey respondents also thought that the overall attractiveness of the downtown area could be improved upon, with buildings renovated, painted and cleaned up. It was also stated that at present there are few places downtown that invite people to stay and linger. So how to change this?

In the first place, the Plan recommends beautifying the downtown streetscape. A principal way to do this is to identify community groups to undertake such beautification efforts, which would include “seasonal décor, plantings, trees, flower boxes, public art, murals, and other things. Engaging the youth and local artists is also called for in the Plan.

Second, the Plan states that the city should identify potential resources and “assist property owners and tenants with building improvements through financial, education, incentives, technical, assistance,” and other means. Improve the appearance of building storefronts including vacant ones. For those buildings with a business owner, the city should “promote access to funding sources for upgrades to downtown commercial buildings,” these funding sources including RBF Inc. and the Façade Loan Fund. As for those buildings in the downtown which are currently vacant, volunteer organizations could adopt a vacant window to decorate while new tenants are awaited.

Moving from Comfort and Image to Sociability, the Plan states that strengths include friendly people in Stanley along with the theater and park as great assets adding to the city’s value. Among the areas for improvement are more activities needed that bring people together and encourage interaction among residents and visitors along with improving the sense of pride and ownership in the downtown. Opportunities for volunteerism are also highlighted as in need of improvement.

Shifting to recommendations for helping fix the stated areas, the Plan states that Stanley should hold more community events downtown, encourage community activity in downtown during the winter months, seek to instill community pride through beautification, provide a covered gathering space in Veteran’s Park, and have year-round downtown programming, entertainment, and events.

Closing out the report short of appended present statistics is the plan’s implementation. For this, the emphasis is placed on creating a community brand, with many recommendations projected to be low in monetary cost but could require a high level of coordination and organization, with the report “not a City ‘todo list,’” but one that must engage the wider community to be successful. Many of the initial steps in the word cloud (with font size based on prominence in responses) relate to beautification and storefront matters. For those interested in some present statistics related to the downtown revitalization effort, these are also contained in the subplan, as follows.

In the first place, the public profile of Stanley area residents includes “empty nesters in bucolic settings,” single householders and those with young families, along with those growing up and staying close to home and bound by community ties.

Second, the Stanley Market Area doesn’t stop at the downtown or even the city’s borders, including three zip codes: Stanley (54768), Thorp (54771), and Boyd (54726). The median income for Stanley household was $37,143 in 2019, while only 123 people both live and work in the City of Stanley, 710 coming in from outside to be employed in the city and 1,000 living in Stanley but leaving the area to go to work.

Of this, the 710 people identified as living outside the city and commuting in are a market opportunity for Stanley, the report says, while a full 32.4 percent of all workers employed in Stanley live in the Stanley-Thorp-Boyd zip code boundaries. Among the largest untapped market opportunities are between10,000 to 12,000 vehicles that travel past on Highway 29 each day without stopping. This traffic represents a boon to the local area that many communities further to the north with only two-lane highways, do not have. Commerce follows traffic, in simplified terms.

With a total of 454 businesses, 3,577 employees, and 12,374 residents in the Stanley-Thorp-Boyd zip code area, most businesses therein are small, with 41 percent having from one to four employees and an additional 25 percent having from five to nine employees. So what are the offerings of downtown, both now and desired?

Listed in the retail inventory section are one motor vehicle and parts dealer (classic car sales), two furniture and home furnishings providers, one electronics and appliance retailer, two stores supplying building materials and garden equipment, one food and beverage store, zero health and personal care establishments, two gas stations (DJ’S Mart and Kwik Trip), one clothing and accessory retailer, one sports/hobby/book/music provider, zero general merchandise stores, seven ‘miscellaneous store’ retailers, and zero non-store retailers.

Regarding these numbers, Stanley exceeds the small town median and percentage when it comes to furniture and home furnishings, electronics and appliance stores, and miscellaneous store retailers, while exceeding the total number but falling below the percentage of stores for small cities when it comes to gas stations (two stores or eleven percent locally versus one store for 13 percent of retail) and building material and garden furnishing stores (also two stores for eleven percent locally versus one store for 13 percent small cities average). The local numbers for general merchandise and non-store retailers locally meanwhile (both zero stores and zero percent respectively) are at present are identical with the average for other small cities.