Kenosha---Confidence continues to build that the old Elk’s Club building won’t meet the wrecking ball. An official with the Madison-based development firm Gorman and Company says he’s 95% certain that the company will close this August on the deal to turn the downtown building into a boutique hotel. Ben Marshall spoke after the Plan Commission voted nine to one Thursday night to approve a conditional use permit. The vote to approve came despite the objections of members of a nearby church who complained about the city's decision to lease parking spaces in an adjacent lot to the new hotel. If all goes as planned, renovation on the existing building and foundation work for a four-story addition will begin this fall.
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Mt. Pleasant---Village Administrator Kurt Wahlen says he's pleased with the initial response he's received from state and federal officials to a big problem that's facing homeowners along the Lake Michigan shoreline near Lake Park. The high water level is apparently eroding the base of a cliff at an alarming rate. One home already had to be demolished and about a dozen others are in jeopardy. Wahlen says sections of the shoreline will have to be reinforced. The Army Corps. of Engineers says it'll expedite a study of the matter.
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