Froedtert has halted plans for $70 million Sheboygan hospital
Froedtert's Sheboygan Health Center was estimated to create 300 jobs
SHEBOYGAN — Froedtert Health has halted plans to construct a hospital on Sheboygan’s northwest side.
In April 2022, Froedtert publicly announced plans to build a community hospital, medical office building and outpatient surgery center. The 165,000-square-foot building would be constructed on 26-acres of vacant land at the northeast corner of North Taylor Drive and Saemann Avenue in the in the Second Creek Neighborhood. The Sheboygan Area School District finalized sale of the land to Froedtert Health in October 2023 for $3 million.
Construction on the $70 million four-story Sheboygan Health Center was expected to begin earlier this year. Officials with Froedtert previously stated the hospital would open in the first half of 2026. With construction taking 18 months, those plans have been halted according to unnamed sources. WKTS News reached out to Froedtert to ask about the status of the project. They provided us with the following statement:
Froedtert ThedaCare Health continues to work with our partners as we determine next steps for the site at North Taylor Drive and Saemann Avenue.
We also continue to explore opportunities that will complement and grow the health system’s presence in the Sheboygan community.
As a combined organization, Froedtert ThedaCare Health is dedicated to strengthening local health care by bringing together valuable aspects of care, including primary care, specialty care, advanced treatments and technology.
Enhancing convenient access to high-quality care supports our mission to improve the health and well-being of the communities we serve and aligns with our population health vision of becoming proactive partners in health.
Any future plans in the area would broaden heath system resources for patients who already receive care at Froedtert Health Sheboygan North Taylor Clinic, located at 1414 North Taylor Drive and Froedtert Health Sheboygan South Taylor Clinic, located at 3736 South Taylor Drive.
Cassandra Wallace
Director, Strategic Communications
Froedtert ThedaCare Health
Instead of answering specific questions regarding the proposed hospital in Sheboygan, Wallace provided a generic statement. She did not confirm if a groundbreaking or any construction activity would occur this year. She also did not deny talk of the health care provider looking to sell the land. In a follow-up phone conversation with Wallace on Monday, she again would not answer specific questions.
City Administrator Casey Bradley confirmed to WKTS News that there has been no progress or changes to this proposal since the City Plan Commission approved the project in July 2023. This means, Froedtert’s Conditional Use Permit (CUP) has expired. Permits shall expire in one year from date of approval unless substantial work has commenced or business has begun operating.
While 'halted' can refer to stopping or pausing, in this context, it suggests plans that are uncertain or not fully developed.
Last June, Froedtert opened a 7,000-square-foot clinic inside the former Route 43 store on South Taylor Drive. The clinic, located next to Rocky Rococo Pizza, has 10 exam rooms where it offers primary care, lab and imaging services. In 2023, the health care provider opened a clinic inside the Taylor Professional Center.
Land intended for schools
In 1967, the City of Sheboygan purchased 80-acres of land for $200,000 bordered by Saemann Avenue to the south, North 29th Street to the east, Geele Avenue to the north and North 36th Street to the west. Later that year, the city transferred the land to the Sheboygan Area School District (SASD). At the time, Superintendent Leslie W. Johnson envisioned the land would be the future home of the school district's fourth middle school and third high school.
In 1969, the city began planning for the Taylor Drive Beltline. When fully completed, the north-south thoroughfare would have extended from Highway 42 through Evergreen Park to the city’s far south side at Weeden Creek Road. With the SASD-owned land spilt in half by the beltline, the Community Recreation Department began fundraising in 1993 to develop the land west of Taylor Drive as the Field of Dreams.
In 1974, the city created 108 garden plots on land rented from the SASD at the northeast corner of Taylor Drive Beltline and Geele Avenue. Citizens rented plots for $11.50 a year. The price increased to $20 in 1984. The Hmong Mutual Assistance Association got involved in 1987 after the garden was threaten by budget cuts. The gardens would be relocated to SASD-owned land north of Optimist Park in 2022.
Also in 1987, the school district revived plans to build a new middle school on the land. After voters rejected the proposal in 1995, those plans were shelved again. Over the decades, the vacant land has been used by the city as a snow dump until 2022.
Second Creek Detention Pond
At the intersection of North 29th Street and Geele Avenue, chain link fence surrounds the Second Creek Detention Pond on land formerly owned by the school district. After major flooding in 1986, the City of Sheboygan began work on storm sewer improvements in the Second Creek Neighborhood. One option under consideration was spending $1.9 million to lay sewer pipes that would empty into the Pigeon River.
Instead, construction started in 1988 on the Second Creek Detention Facility. Nearly 3,000-feet of new sewer line was installed. Ever since then, storm water is emptied into the pond with assistance of a pump station. In 2000, the city purchased additional SASD land to expand the pond. A second pumping station was installed on the west end of the pond. The facility has faded from public view in recent years with trees and shrubs blocking views of the 19-feet deep pond.
In 2020, the Common Council approved plans to turn the dry pond into a wet pond.
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