News & Notes
News and Notes for the Week of 3/20/21 - 3/26/21
A developer is threatening to drop a potential $100 million, 400-unit luxury housing project if the city and Dane County move forward in locating a permanent shelter for homeless men in a vacant big-box store near East Towne Mall near the housing project site.
But Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said the city remains committed to the much-needed men’s shelter at the location and that the city and partners will do everything possible to be good neighbors.
-Wisconsin State Journal
Dane County is seeking proposals from developers to redevelop the Alliant Energy Center with the hope of expanding facilities and bringing new events to the 164-acre complex, the county announced Thursday.
The large concerts, expos and other events at the center have largely been on hold for the past year as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the cancellation of nearly all large events. The campus has instead been used for drive-through COVID-19 testing and vaccinations.
-Wisconsin State Journal
The University of Wisconsin-Madison held its first virtual meeting Tuesday to gather community input about the future of Library Mall, the public open space on campus located between Memorial Library and the Wisconsin Historical Society and home to the Hagenah Fountain. 
-The Cap Times
Following the lead of Room of One’s Own bookstore, Community Pharmacy has plans to move from Downtown to the East Side.
The property for the pharmacy and the bookstore near the corner of West Gorham and State streets is being eyed for a major redevelopment project and now both longtime businesses will be on the move later this year.
-Wisconsin State Journal
Gov. Tony Evers on Wednesday cleared one of the final hurdles for the Ho-Chunk Nation to build one of the largest casinos in the state in Beloit. Evers gave his approval for land in Beloit to be taken into trust by the federal government. The move follows a U.S. Department of Interior decision that 32 acres should be taken into trust for the purpose of developing a new casino, which, according to the project outline, is estimated to create more than 1,500 jobs at the casino resort complex and more than 2,000 construction jobs.
-Wisconsin State Journal
With a $14 million donation from American Girl founder and philanthropist Pleasant Rowland, One City Schools announced plans on Tuesday to purchase an office building in Monona that will become a new home for the fast-growing independent charter school.
-Wisconsin State Journal