Mayor Woodford Provides Statement On Status Of Trout Museum/Ellen Kort Peace Park Proposal – Trout Currently Reviewing Environmental Assessment Report

The Common Council met 02/15/2023. At that meeting, Mayor Woodford provided an update on where the Trout Museum is in its journey to gain approval to construct a museum building on the grounds of Ellen Kort Peace Park. This was touched on briefly during the Parks and Recreation Committee meeting of 02/06/2023 during which Alderperson Israel Del Toro (District 4) asked Director of Parks, Recreation, and Facilities Dean Gazza if he had heard anything from the Trout Museum about their community outreach and education efforts regarding the project, to which Director Gazza responded, “No, I have not had one conversation with one member. Not an email, not a phone call. Not a voice conversation.”

That committee meeting also did not include any update regarding where the Trout Museum was in its site analysis of the park. And, for that matter, the Trout Museum’s own webpage regarding the proposed new building did not include any updates as to where they were at in that process.

A perusal of the Trout Museum’s website and Facebook page do not turn up any recent statements from the museum on the status of their project or their community outreach efforts; however, Mayor Woodford did speak at the Common Council meeting and provide a statement and update on the status of the Trout Museum’s proposal to construct a museum building within Ellen Kort Peace Park. I have transcribed his statement in full below:

I was asked by Council to provide an update on the evaluation process considering the colocation of the Trout Museum of Art at Ellen Kort Peace Park. While this update was not specified in the process, I believe it’s appropriate given the time the current step is taking and the state of discourse in the community on this matter. My update will focus solely on the City of Appleton’s role in this process. I will not be speaking on behalf of the Trout Museum of Art other than to share the action steps that have been taken so far.

As a reminder, the Common Council has now taken three votes to authorize this consideration and to define the process the city would follow. Currently, we are on step four of seven, which focuses on site analysis. Within step four, the first review required is environmental, which focuses–which begins with a phase one environmental assessment. The Trout Museum of Art has engaged Westwood Professional Services to conduct the Phase One analysis and to develop a report which they recently received and are reviewing.

Next, the Trout Museum of Art will be meeting with city staff to review the results and discuss next steps in the environmental review process. Upon completion of the necessary environmental reviews, the remainder of the review areas within step four will be undertaken and completed. Within step four, there is a requirement for public input during the development of project goals, which comes after the current action–the environmental review step. There is another public comment opportunity prior to the Council review and a vote at the completion of Step Four and before proceeding to Step Five.

Last week, a media article was published suggesting there had been no communication between the Trout Museum of Art and the City of Appleton since the last action taken by the Common Council. Director Gazza spoke honestly and accurately from his perspective, and specifically to the question asked; however, the Trout Museum of Art has been updating me directly on their progress, but I was not interviewed for the article.

In this stage of the process, site access has not been required, and therefore the museum has not needed to work with the Director to commission the Phase One report.

The city’s city of Appletons understanding of the process and necessary steps remains clear. The Trout Museum of Art at their own expense is conducting the approved analysis within step four. This process is in no way affecting the city’s implementation of capital plans for park improvements, as evidenced by the trail lighting and seating improvements installed in the park concurrently with this ongoing process. Furthermore, the process is not influencing the city’s future capital planning, nor is it preventing any fundraising for park improvements, which I will note were virtually non existent prior to the start of this current process.

The timeline is being driven by completion of each element at each step delineated in the Council approved process. Because there are currently no operational or planning impacts associated with this ongoing process, the city has not established deadlines for completion within Step Four and would not recommend such action be taken at this time.

Finally, I encourage our community to seriously consider the way we treat each other and the way we carry ourselves amid disagreements and concerns. I believe in our city’s capacity to wrestle with complex issues with kindness and respect. I hope all of us will rise to the occasion and avoid resorting to behavior that seeks to demean, intimidate, ignore or harass any member of our community, no matter their perspectives on the issue at hand.

At this time, I will not be taking questions as I have no further information to offer beyond what was shared in this update. Thank you.

Mayor Jake Woodford at the Appleton Common Council meeting (02/15/2023) (https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1064888&GUID=1B410AD6-86CB-4CEC-B9CD-DB4327FF200F)

You can view a video of his statement filmed by a member of the public here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/609643010832110/posts/746358890493854

Although the city filmed video is not yet posted (as of 9AM 12/16/2023), it should be available presently. You can view it and the full meeting details here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1064888&GUID=1B410AD6-86CB-4CEC-B9CD-DB4327FF200F