Sister Bay Schoolhouse Park Property Sold

The Sister Bay Village Board voted to sell the Schoolhouse Park property along State Highway 57 in Sister Bay to Mitch Larson, owner of On Deck Clothing Company, for $400,000.

“The schoolhouse property is currently valued at $0. It doesn’t generate any taxes,” said village administrator Robert Kufrin. “Depending on how he builds the duplexes, the project could pay as much as $2 million in property taxes by 2034.”

The proceeds of the sale will go to offset the cost of the Bay Shore Project, when the village will bury utility lines and improve underground pipes downtown.

Larson, whose family owns property next to Schoolhouse Park, plans to build eight two-unit duplexes, a private road to the development and potentially more buildings along Maple Drive.

“I’m invested in Sister Bay; I grew up in Sister Bay; my family’s in Sister Bay; I’d like to do a nice project on that property for Sister Bay,” Larson said. “I think it’s a very viable piece of property. Each unit will have a water view, and it ties in nicely with my mother’s property.”

Larson said he’s been trying to buy the property since it went up for sale in 2008, and finally came to a good deal with the village.

“It’s something my family had been looking at doing for 20 to 30 years,” Larson said. “It’s a beautiful piece of property on the bluff.”

He said he wanted to see residential development on the property, not commercial, because he thinks commercial activity should be focused downtown.

The schoolhouse on the property has been vacant since 2005. The Village of Sister Bay acquired the property from Gibraltar Area Schools in 1972, and leased it in the 1980s to Northern Door Day Care then used it as a training facility for the fire department. It’s been a park since 2004.

Although he doesn’t plan to save the structure on the property, Larson has ties to the old schoolhouse and is open to hearing from groups interested in preserving it.

“I went through all six grades in that school,” Larson said. “I lived right next door. I was one of the spoiled kids that got to walk home for lunch every day.”

The deal comes as the village is finalizing its Downtown Redevelopment Plan meant to attract developers to the empty parcels downtown.

“I think Sister Bay’s invested a lot in the community and I think they’re going to start reaping the rewards from it,” Larson said. “I think Sister Bay’s going to be on an uptick.”