Demolition begins on Sheboygan Pier 17 restaurant
Restaurant on Sheboygan's Riverfront has been vacant for over six years
SHEBOYGAN — A dilapidated restaurant on Sheboygan's Riverfront is being torn down as part of a plan to redevelop the property.
On Tuesday morning, crews from Scott's Excavating began demolishing the former Pier 17 restaurant, located at 539 Riverfront Drive. As of Tuesday afternoon, the bar and most of the dining room has been demolished. Crews will work throughout the week to tear down the remaining parts of the building. The unannounced demolition drew a dozen or so onlookers along Riverfront Drive.
WKTS News reported last week demolition of the building was expected to occur in the near future. A clue that the 37-year-old building would be torn down was when Wisconsin Public Service informed the City of Sheboygan of their intent to disconnect natural gas service to the building.
The owner of the building is Paul S. Gottsacker, who lives in Sheboygan’s North Point Neighborhood. He has owned the property since 2020. He is the owner of Gottsacker Commercial Real Estate, which owns several commercial properties throughout the city. Under his ownership, the riverfront property has been racking up code violations from the City of Sheboygan.
After WKTS News published a report in April detailing the building’s rough shape, the city's Building Inspection performed a site visit several weeks later. Seven violations were noted during the inspection. Among the violations, the city instructed the owners to replace all broken windows. As of Tuesday evening, that has not occurred. The city also ordered the owners to remove green temporary fencing and remove graffiti from the building. Neither has occurred. Tall grass and weeds have also been a concern with the city receiving at least two complaints.
READ MORE: Condos could replace Sheboygan's Pier 17 restaurant
In 2022, Gottsacker paid $17,205.77 in property taxes on the building. In 2023, he paid $15,204.36. Last year, his property tax bill was just $9,015.81 — a significant drop from previous years. The 7,500-square-foot building was built in 1988 by visionary Madison developer John P. Livesey as part of the Sheboygan Riverfront Revival Project. He sold the building to Bill Dawson, who operated Brisco County Wood Grill after Randall’s Riverfront closed in 1998.
A person with direct knowledge of the plans confirmed to WKTS News that Gottsacker and Milwaukee developer Tom Schafer had originally intended to demolish the building and build condos with retail space on the first floor of the new building. However, those plans may have changed. City Administrator Casey Bradley has been informing developers that apartments need to be included in their projects. Developers have been finding it challenging to receive typical financial incentives from the city without including apartments in their projects. Bradley’s directive has been leaving some developers to modify or in some cases, abandon their plans to develop or redevelop properties in the city. WKTS News has been unable to verify this with Bradley as he has been deliberately ignoring emails and phone calls.
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Who's paying for the demolition?