New Uptown restaurant, Gerald's, eyes May opening

Gerald Bester at Thursday's Access Corridor Review Board meeting. 

Plans for a new restaurant in the former "Bank" building in Uptown are on track for an opening in the first or second of week of May, according to the owner.

Gerald Bester, owner of the soon-to-open "Gerald's" at 1501 Washington Ave., appeared before the Access Corridor Review Board on Thursday to get awnings and a facade grant approved for the building. Both easily passed the board.

Following the meeting, Bester said he's tentatively planning to open in early May. He said he's installed a full commercial kitchen and is now going through the permit approval process, hiring staff and getting the restaurant ready.

Here's our initial story about Bester's ambitious plans for the site.

Revisiting SC Johnson, Uptown and property tax exemptions

Project Honor on the SCJ campus in Racine.

We really don't bash the JT too often, but we can't let a story from Saturday slide. The headline read:

SC Johnson’s new development helping fund district to revitalize Uptown

That's a remarkably upbeat take on SC Johnson's Uptown contribution, which will be about half of what it would have been without a sneaky deal between the company, Gov. Jim Doyle and former Mayor Gary Becker. (Click here for our June 1 story that blew the deal wide open. Click here for a summary of additional stories about the deal.)

The JT's story is based on the Oct. 23 Joint Review Board meeting, which we attended, as well. The board met to create a new tax increment district (TID) for Racine's Uptown (known as TID 16). The TID allows the city to borrow money to make improvements and then pay back the loan by collecting any additional property taxes in district for the next 15 years.

To be clear, the TID gets all additional property taxes in the district. Racine Unified, the county, the state, Gateway and even the city itself do not see a penny of the additional property taxes until at least 2024.

Interestingly, the TID is not limited to Uptown. It extends down 14th Street to to the SC Johnson campus, where the company happens to be constructing a roughly $50 million new building known generally as "Project Honor." (Technically, it's two buildings.)

Here's where things get interesting. SCJ and former Mayor Gary Becker swung a deal that dates back to 2007. SCJ didn't want to pay property taxes on its new building - $50 million is a lot of assessed property - and Becker really wanted to get his Uptown arts district going.

The swap went something like this. SCJ found a tax loophole with the state that allowed education centers next to architecturally significant buildings to be exempt from property taxes. Project Honor, located next to the Frank Lloyd Wright Administration Building and Research Tower, qualified.

Gov. Jim Doyle agreed to sign an executive order exempting a portion of the project - known as Fortaleza Hall - from property taxes. The order also includes the Administration Building and Research Tower, which are valued at $4 million.

Becker agreed to the executive order in exchange for the rest of Project Honor - known as the Community Building - being included in an Uptown TID. (Actually, it's unclear if that was Becker's demand or SCJ wanting to control where its property taxes were spent. The latter seems more likely.) SCJ also agreed to kick in $500,000 over five years for Uptown, as well.

The end result: SCJ is saving at least $200,000 a year - possibly twice that much - on property taxes because of the state tax exemption. (We may never know the actual savings because the state is responsible for assessing the building, but simply won't assess the new building because it's tax exempt.)

The rest of the property taxes from the new buildings on their campus are directed into a district located on the company's door step. SCJ will pay between $160,000 and $200,000 per year in taxes to Uptown for the next 15 years.

The money will be used for:

* $400,000 to renovate buildings owned by the city's Redevelopment Authority. That includes remodeling the facade of 1418 Washington Ave. and putting a new roof on 1511 Washington Ave. The city hopes to sell both buildings to artists or small businesses.

* $50,000 for public arts projects, possibly including another mural in Uptown.

* $75,000 for streetscaping

* $750,000 for marketing Uptown, though that number may be adjusted down, depending on need

From what we can tell, there's nothing wrong with the Uptown TID. The district's historic buildings and unique layout is a potential jewel in Racine and using development tools to revive the district is a reasonable and prudent of city money. (As a side note, the city was set to create the new TID earlier this year, but Becker got arrested the district was put off until the new mayor was put into place.)

It's even hard to argue with SCJ's aggressive tax approach. They're a successful corporation that's really good at managing and saving money. That's the reason it's one of the largest private companies in the world, and we're lucky to have them based in Racine.

But it should at least be acknowledged the company quietly (even secretly) worked with the governor and mayor to save hundreds of thousands of dollars per year at the expense of Racine taxpayers. You can argue the company deserved the tax break for all that it does for the city, but there's no question they received a huge tax break that only went public after the fact.

SCJ is contributing to improving Uptown, which is a potentially valuable project for the city. The company, which is handsomely profiting off the arrangement, just shouldn't receive credit for doing so.

The JT, which chased us on the story, but still reported on it themselves, should have known better than the headline they ran.

City rehabs Uptown building; Dickert: Artists are good for Uptown, jobs are better

City officials gave a tour last week of the Uptown building rehabbed by Racine's Redevelopment Authority.

The building at 1526 Washington Ave. was gutted and remodeled into usable space, though it's still lacking bathrooms, plumbing, electrical conduits and heating ducts. The idea was to convert the tattered 4,600-square-foot building into a blank canvas for someone to move into and design how they'd like.

The interior is impressive. The first and second stories feature huge street front windows and wide open spaces.


The building is on the market for $400,000, or $200,000 for the first or second floor. One buyer out of Chicago is interested in the space, though they need to sell their building first, which is no guarantee in the current market. The RDA bought the building in 2007 for $128,000.

The building cost about $604,000 to renovate and the project's total cost was about $800,000.

The city is now preparing to market the property. The hope is still to attract an artist or artists to the building as part of the "Create Uptown" district started by former Mayor Gary Becker.

Mayor John Dickert said Friday he was open to bringing in any type of business to Uptown, adding he was more interested in jobs than artists.

Here's a few more pictures from the tour:

City Development Director Brian O'Connell talks about the building.

Jody Karls looks out the window. He's standing next to John Crimmings, chair of the RDA.

It's all yours for $200,000.

Restaurant planned at former nightclub 'The Bank' in Uptown

Gerald Bester plans to open a new restaurant in Uptown. "Gerald's" will be located at
1501 Washington Ave., the former home of "The Bank" nightclub.

The former nightclub "The Bank" in Racine's Uptown is ready for its next act.

Gerald Bester, of Milwaukee, is preparing to open a restaurant in the space that was once home to the controversial nightclub. Bester is planning to buy the building at 1501 Washington Ave. and turn it into "Gerald's," a restaurant he described as "upscale that's a step below elegant dining and two or three steps above fast food." The restaurant has a smokehouse theme and will serve a variety of specialty items, Bester said.

His plans took an important step forward Monday night. The City Council's Public Safety and Licensing Committee agreed to give Bester an alcohol license as soon as he adds a kitchen capable of serving 150 people in the building.

The committee grilled Bester on his plans, but a strong business plan and an endorsement from the Uptown Business Association won over the aldermen. They unanimously backed Bester's restaurant.

Bester said he plans to build the kitchen toward the end of October. Contractors and plans are lined up for the job, which will actually complete a kitchen started when a restaurant/bar called the "The Vault" was in business about five years ago.

Bester, of Milwaukee, hopes to open "Gerald's" in spring 2010. He has experience running businesses. He now owns a trucking company, which he plans to sell to open the restaurant, and is the former owner of "The Comedy Spot," a comedy club in Milwaukee.

He'll also have some help. Karl Kopp, the owner of Kopp's Frozen Custards in the Milwaukee area, will serve as a mentor. "He's agreed to help in every aspect of the business," Bester said.

The distinctive building at 1501 Washington Ave. (right) is a former bank that was converted into a nightclub in 2000. The interior is beautifully designed with a second-story balcony overlooking the floor.

The building has sat vacant for the last five years after "The Vault," a bar/restaurant that replaced "The Bank" nightclub shut down. "The Bank" was open from 2000 to 2003.

Current owner Linnea Anthony said several people looked at the building, but none were a good fit. "It's been waiting for Gerald," she said.

Richard Kemper, a dentist who lives a few buildings down from the proposed restaurant, spoke in favor of Bester receiving a liquor license as long as he puts in a full kitchen and treats the space more as a restaurant than a bar or nightclub. Kemper, speaking on behalf of the Uptown Business Association, said he was "cautiously optimistic" about Bester's proposal.

"We look forward to 2010," he said.

While the committee backed Bester, they made it near impossible for him to open just a bar at 1501 Washington Ave. Along with a finished kitchen, the committee required Bester to give them a menu, set hours of operation and come back to the committee if he makes any significant changes to his restaurant business plan at any time.

Bester agreed to the changes and the committee gave him the go ahead for a liquor license. The full City Council will vote on the license next week.

Update on the Uptown sculpture

We did some more checking on the cost of the Uptown sculpture. The city Finance Department said it wrote two checks to artist Nick Poupore (aka Nic Noblique) in February for the sculpture.

The first was on Feb. 4 for $1,970 and was for metal. The second was on Feb. 6 for $18,104.36 and was for the sculpture itself. That totals $20,074.36 - about half of the $40,000 purchase price.

The Finance Department employee who helped me said the payments came with a note saying $30,000 of the $40,000 payment was due in advance. But, according to this employee, there was no obvious record of $30,000 or $40,000 in payments.

We're still checking with the City Development Department on payments for the sculptures and will report back when our calls to the department are returned.

Also, a second Noblique sculpture may be installed in the Uptown area. A privately owned piece, significantly smaller than the red sculpture already in place, is expected to be installed between Uptown's mosaics walls.

And, another Noblique statue can be seen in the window of 1301 Washington Ave. in Uptown. That sculpture is also privately owned.

Lastly, we should note Noblique is a Wisconsin native. The 33-year-old was born in Appleton and now lives in Galveston Island, Texas. He's had dozens of sculptures displayed around the country, including one on Navy Pier in Chicago.

In this article, the successful Noblique says his credo is: "Art is whatever you can get away with."

Uptown sculpture cost $40,000; Alderman: 'I'm not happy to hear about this'

Former Mayor Gary Becker spent $40,000 in city money to buy a sculpture from a Texas artist planning to move into Uptown's arts district.

The city used Community Development Block Grant money to purchase the bright red sculpture now placed the corner of 10th Street and Washington Ave, according to Kristin Niemiec, corridor specialist for the Racine County Economic Development Corporation.

The Uptown project received $50,000 in CDBG money in 2007, $100,000 in 2008 and $75,000 in 2009. The money was generally designated for marketing the Uptown Artist Relocation program, which was designed to attract artists to Racine.

The $40,000 figure is a stark contrast to the amount we reported following Monday's Redevelopment Authority meeting. At that meeting, I reported the sculpture was donated to the city, but apparently misunderstood. (One possibility is the sculpture didn't cost the RDA any money. Another is the sculpture was purchased with CDBG money, so it didn't come out of the city budget. In either case, the sculpture cost $40,000 and had already been purchased by the time the RDA reviewed placing it at 10th 13th St. and Washington Ave.)

I wasn't alone. Alderman Greg Helding said he believed the city purchased the sculpture for around $6,000. When told it was $40,000, he said he was upset.

"I'm not happy to hear about this," Helding said. "I assumed marketing dollars were spent on marketing, and I'm going to ask that this be looked into."

That said, Helding said he was happy with the artwork and thought it looked "cool" along Washington Avenue. He just didn't know it cost so much money.

Niemiec said it was Becker's idea to purchase the sculpture, which was created by artist NicNoblique , who considered moving to Racine after Hurricane Ike displaced him from Galveston Island, Texas. Noblique told The Journal Times he backed out of moving to Racine after Becker was arrested in an Internet sex sting.

RacinePost heard a different story from city officials, who said Noblique backed out because he couldn't afford the building. Coincidentally, the $40,000 sale price for the sculpture is 10 percent of the cost of the $400,000 building Noblique had hoped to purchase at 1526 Washington Ave. A lending program for buying buildings in Uptown requires artists to make a 10 percent down payment to qualify for the loan. Noblique told the JT he also backed out of buying the building because the interior didn't have flooring, electricity or plumbing.

Let's chalk this up to the latest questionable move by our former mayor in hopes of igniting the Uptown artist district. Becker decided to spend $40,000 in CDBG money - money that could go for any of dozens of worthy programs in the city - on a sculpture created by an out-of-town artist with no connection to Racine. (That said, Noblique has an impressive resume and could have been a strong fit for Becker's Uptown vision.)

Sadly, if the former mayor wanted to spend $40,000 on public art for Uptown he certainly could have commissioned an artist to create a piece or held a contest and attracted designs and ideas from around the country. It could have actually galvanized interest in the district instead of serving as another symbol of Becker's reckless drive to "create Uptown."

p.s. Nice work by the JT on tracking down the actual cost of the sculpture. On a minor detail, the pedestal for the sculpture cost about $3,700, and work fixing curbs and landscaping the triangle-shaped park along Washington Ave., including the pedestal, cost a total of about $15,000.

Uptown photos: Progress on arts district, sculpture placed and Brantner's exterior

Arts District coming along

Work is progressing on the city-owned building at 1526 Washington Ave. The new second-story windows look great and Katt Construction is well on its way to transforming the building into an attractive store front. (See the building pre-construction here.) Next up is exterior work on 1418 Washington Ave. down the street.


Sculpture placed
Uptown's new sculpture was placed on Tuesday. The 9 1/2-foot tall sculpture, donated to the city by artist Nic Noblique, sits on a 2-foot-8-inch pedestal at the corner of Washington Ave and 13th St. (See our post here.)


Brantner's
We're overdue on this, but Brantner's new storefront at 10th and Washington Ave. looks great.

Committee approves placing sculpture in Uptown

Untitled, by Nic Noblique

The city's Redevelopment Authority approved placing a 9 1/2-foot tall sculpture at a new pocket park being built at 1247 Washington Ave.

Artist Nic Noblique donated the sculpture to the city after he nearly moved to Uptown as part of the city's Artist Relocation Program. Noblique and his family was displaced by Hurricane Ike and briefly moved to Racine. He intended to buy one of the Uptown buildings, but the deal fell through and Noblique moved back to Texas.

The abstract steel sculpture, untitled, is a flowing bright red design that will sit on a 2-foot-8-inch pedestal in the 800-square-foot park. Members of the Uptown Business Improvement District approved the sculpture, said City Development Director Brian O'Connell.

Members of the RDA briefly guffawed at the artwork, but unanimously approved placing it in the park at the corner of Washington Avenue and 13th Street.

The committee asked about potential vandalism to the sculpture. O'Connell said city staff believed the public would respect the artwork. He added staff acquired some of the red paint to cover up any graffitti on the sculpture.

The city acquired the triangle-shaped piece of land from the county. It was a tax delinquent property, O'Connell said.

Along with the sculpture, the city will do some minimal landscaping in the park, including planting trees, he said.

Contractor Vassh and Sons Excavating Inc., of Franksville, was the low-bidder on the project at $3,730. (See the plan here.)

A plaque with Noblique's name will be displayed by the sculpture, O'Connell said.

First, you pack everything into a U-Haul...

The smaller mural, on the Hoernel Key Shop

As finishing touches were put on Uptown's two wall mosaics Saturday morning, I fleshed out the backstory to one of the workers.

Muralist Isaiah Zagar had an assistant working to herd the many local volunteers who showed up to build the mural, a young woman named Angela Talle.

Angela Talle, one determined young artist

Angela was a young artist living in Minnesota when she decided she wanted to learn how to do mosaics from the master, Isaiah Zagar in Philadelphia. So she wrote him, and sent along pictures of her work, asking for an apprenticeship.

Never got a reply.

So she did what any self-respecting, determined, 25-year-old artist would do: She packed all her stuff in a small U-Haul trailer, drove to Philadelphia and knocked on Zagar's door. Turns out, he had never received her initial mailing. This time, he liked what he saw, gave her an apprenticeship, which lasted for six months, and then a job ... and she's been making mosaics and murals ever since.

Angela is married now -- her husband, Adam, was here this weekend also, helping out on the Uptown mural. Angela mostly does smaller pieces today -- vases and so forth -- but has done four large wall murals and one smokestack mural in her hometown of Minneapolis.

Below are a few more photos of our murals.

Adam Talle, Angela's husband, does his part

Closeup of one of the "blobs" on the Hoernel mosaic

The mermaid on the larger mosaic mural

Our main story about Uptown's mosaic murals is HERE.

Art on a big scale, to transform a neighborhood

Isaiah Zagar works on his mural Friday

Sometimes, things just happen.

Last January, Gary Becker was in Washington for a meeting, and he took a side trip to see an old friend. The friend took Racine's mayor on a day and a half "art death walk" the mayor recalls with a laugh, all over Philadelphia. One of the last stops was Isaiah Zagar's Magic Garden. Telling the story of the Magic Garden could take all week; suffice it to say it's an incredible yarn about art triumphing over commerce, of protests honed during the Vietnam War era transforming part of a city and preventing its destruction by yet another expressway. (You can see pictures and read all about it HERE).

But what's important to Racine is this: "Within a few minutes of seeing the Magic Garden," says Becker, "I started thinking, 'This would be great in Racine.' "

More pictures of Racine's mural HERE.

And so, the wheels started turning that brought mosaic muralist Isaiah Zagar to Racine this week, where he has been creating -- with the assistance of a host of local volunteers -- not one but two incredible mosaics on the sides of two buildings at the entrance to Uptown, in the 1300 block of Washington Avenue.

Becker was at the site Friday morning, watching the white-bearded Zagar -- his hands deep into a bucket of grout -- direct more than a dozen young people (including the mayor's daughter, Maggie, 16) as they created artwork where there had been none, out of broken pieces of tile, mirror, stones, shells, an egg plate, cups and other scrounged and donated "stuff."

And, indeed, what they were creating is art, with a capital A.

The murals are perhaps 12 feet tall and 75 feet long, a swirling mass of color and shapes. Look closely: there's a face! Wait, it's a mermaid. And over there's a fish. And ...


Almost all of it has been created by the adult and youth volunteers assembled by Kerry Turner, the project manager from Racine County Economic Development. RCEDC, the city and the Uptown Business Improvement District helped fund the $10,000 project, which with the Create Uptown Festival this weekend is aimed to kick off the Artists Relocation Program, which seeks to revitalize Uptown by helping artists buy neighborhood buildings in which they can work and live.

I say "almost" all of the mosaic was created here, because Becker recalled picking up Zagar at the airport and lifting his suitcase. "I said, 'Holy Cow, do you have bricks in here?' " No, it was just tile and pieces for what Zagar calls the "blobs" -- some of the key design elements in the murals. The face of the mermaid, for instance; some extra large eyes for another. Zagar created and then installed them on the blank wall, and then drew the rest of the design in chalk for his workers to follow.

Since Tuesday -- in between thunderstorms -- they have been sticking the broken mirror glass, tile and what not on the brick walls of a building owned by Linea Anthony, and on the Hoernel Key Shop building on the other side of the empty lot. "Sticking the mirror on is the simplest part to learn," Zagar said, after doing it for 40 years. Friday was for grouting, "the most difficult."

"Come over here and watch me," he instructed the volunteers, clearly a teacher as much as an artist. "Once you have put something on, the sponge has to go back and forth. I'm doing it with my eyes, not my heart. I'm filling in those cracks. The thing is to get a great deal of joy from finding those edges, getting it flat so there are no bumps. There is no spot you should feel is your work. You've got to dance around," he said, "If you're in one spot, you're not doing much."


I asked Zagar the "vision" question, wondering how it feels to have his design created by others. "There is no vision," he said. "What comes out, comes out. If I had a vision I would be stymied and I'd tell these people 'you can't work with me.' "

This isn't the first mosaic Zagar has made away from his Philadelphia homebase, which has scores of them. His wife, Julia (to whom he has been married for 45 years -- they were in the Peace Corps together in Peru) accompanied him to Racine, and joins him on about a dozen far-flung projects each year. (In January, they created a mural on a cinderblock changing facility by the beach in Maui. "That was nice," she said, reemphasizing "January" in case I missed it.) She was impressed by "the tremendous participation by the mayor," she said. "We've never gotten this anywhere else." She said Becker already has invited the couple back.

"You can see a whole neighborhood change with one of these murals," she said.


Friday night, the couple presented a screening, in the old M&I Bank Building on Washington, for city officials and volunteers, of a new documentary about their life. Called In a Dream, it was made by Jeremiah, one of their two sons, and already has won numerous "best director" and "best new talent" awards on the independent film circuit: in Austin at South by SouthWest, in Philadelphia and at Full Frame in North Carolina. The movie deals with the events that shaped the Zagars' life -- and everyone's -- breakdowns, an almost-divorce, raising children, as well as artistic issues.

"This is what I can get a thrill out of," said Zagar, 69, "manufacturing these large scale mosaics." And then he scooped out another handful of grout and energetically began spreading it between the tiles, smoothing the bumps and edges.

The free festival Saturday runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the municipal parking lot at the corner of Washington Avenue and 13th Street. It features music, clowns, food, projects for kids and, hopefully, completion of th murals. Our earlier schedule of Saturday's event is HERE.

It's the Year of the Rat at Roots and Legends

The rats have taken up residence in the window of Roots and Legends, the oriental medical clinic at 3209 Washington Ave., Uptown.

However, there's no cause for alarm.

Today is the Chinese New Year, and this is the Year of the Rat, one of the 12 animals of Chinese astrology. (The others are ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.)

Each year, Roots and Legends commissions a local artist to create the animal and fill their front window. Kate Remingon is this year's artist, and her medium is a cement-like sculpture material. The rats look quite friendly and inviting.

Xinhua, the Chinese news agency, says that rat astrological sign is associated with "a time of hard work and renewal in many ways" that marks "a good year to begin a new job, get married, launch a product or make a fresh start."

There oughta be a law ...

There oughta be a law requiring merchants to clear the snow off the sidewalks in front of their stores.

Oh, yeah, there is.

Then these pictures couldn't have been taken near noon today, on Main Street (top) and Uptown (below).

P.S. Kudos to all the highway crews. Roads around town were amazingly clear this morning. A truly fine job everywhere.

Public hearing tonight on Artist Relocation Program for Racine's Uptown

The City Council will hold a public hearing tonight at 7 p.m. on Mayor Gary Becker's Artist Relocation Program for Uptown in Racine.

The program would rehab buildings in Uptown and encourage artists to move into the neighborhood in hopes of reviving Washington Avenue from Phillips Avenue to 10th Street. So far, the city has bought two buildings and is renovating one of them.

Last week, the city received a $196,000 federal grant to assist the program. It's based on a program in Paducah, Kentucky.

The public hearing is a chance to voice support or opposition to the program, which has been approved by the city's Plan Commission. It's likely to pass the full council.

Our earlier story on this grant is HERE.

Molbeck's adds something new: Parking!

Molbeck's Health and Spice Shop -- "doing business in Racine for more than 50 years" -- has something new for its customers.

Parking!

Yes, the little shop located for so many years at 2703 Washington Ave., across from the Washington Park Golf Course -- chock full of such healthful necessities as whole grains, nuts, dried fruits, seeds, spices, pasta, herbs and myriad vitamins and diet supplements -- has been lacking in that one customer convenience we all demand: a place to park.

No longer! Can you hang on for a few more weeks?

Molbeck's will close its present location on Thursday, Jan. 31, and open its new store, at 3212 Washington Ave. on Monday, Feb. 4. With a parking lot in the rear! The new location is just west of where West Boulevard intersects Washington Avenue, across from Arthur Shattuck's Roots and Legends (and just a few doors down from the temptations of Bendtsen's Bakery.)

Parking isn't all the new location will provide. Molbeck's also has a new owner. Judy Reinhardt, who owned the shop for 19 years, sold it on Jan. 1 to Rhonda Masilian, an employee for the past four years.

As one store opens, full of optimism, another closes. The storefront Molbeck's is moving into is now occupied by Tony's Western Wear, (50% Off, proclaim the window signs) run by Tony Martinez. "It just hasn't worked out," Tony says, wishing he'd chosen a location closer to the Interstate.

A Case retiree 15 years ago, Tony is also a bailiff at the Racine County Courthouse. When he opened the store two years ago, he tried to quit that job, but was told, "Go run your store for a month and you'll want to come back here." He did, and he did, and has been serving as a trial bailiff part-time ever since ... and he'll continue to do so.