Public Restrooms Coming to 3rd and Jefferson

This drawing depicts what the planned Muse music venue and school, with apartments on the second floor and public restrooms on the west end, will look like at the northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and Jefferson Street in Sturgeon Bay. Submitted.

A music venue and school planned at the corner of 3rd Avenue and Jefferson Street will also provide public restrooms.

The Sturgeon Bay Common Council approved a public-restroom agreement Tuesday with Shirley Weese Young, who is building the project known as Muse, with restrooms to be located on the west side of the property on the ground floor along 3rd Avenue.

The city agreed to pay Young $2,250 quarterly for the upkeep and operation of the restrooms. The amount is locked in for two years and can be adjusted after that for the actual costs to maintain similar public restrooms. 

Community development director Marty Olejniczak said the agreement is patterned after a restroom agreement for the Marketplace by Bliss project. The agreement requires the restrooms to be free and open to the general public, at a minimum, 8 am – 9 pm, unless different hours are agreed upon in writing by the city and Young. The restrooms will be accessible directly from the outside of the building or from a joint entryway/vestibule.

Having the Muse building’s restrooms open to the general public was included as part of the development agreement the city reached with Young, who will also be receiving $900,000 from the city in development incentives, with 15 annual payments of $60,000, for guaranteeing that the project will have a $4 million minimum assessed value. The development agreement calls for Young to “substantially complete” the project by Jan. 1, 2025.