MONROE - Dreams of meandering around acres of home improvement merchandise and tools under one roof may be dashed in Monroe, unless the city can revive them.
Menard Inc. development plans and agreement with the City of Monroe are now null and void, after the agreement expired last week.
But City Administrator Phil Rath said the city did "reach out to Menards" earlier this year.
"They were still interested," he said. "They just didn't realize the time had lapsed."
Rath said he and City Attorney Rex Ewald have been talking about how to maintain the relationship with the home improvement company.
"Even if the PUD (agreement) is over, we want to work with them to see what they could do, if they are interested," he added.
Jeff Abbott, spokesperson for Menard Inc., said Friday that the company had "nothing to report at this time" on any future plans for Monroe.
The original development agreement was made in January 2008 for a two-year term. The Common Council extended the term Nov. 17, 2009, for two more years.
The site plan called for a 162,000-square-foot retail store, plus 67,000 square feet of unheated covered space, located at the corner of Wisconsin 69 and Wis. 81/11.
The 2009 extension triggered the need for a new cost agreement with Menards, but there was no fundamental difference between the two agreements, Ewald said at the time.
Menards Corporation, based in Eau Claire, owns the 50 acres of property. Four large houses, known as the Whitehead homes, were removed privately from the property in 2008.
The Monroe Fire Department also removed three buildings located on the southeast corner of the property at Aebly Road and Wis. 69. The buildings were once Northland Building, Inc. Menards donated the buildings to the Monroe Emergency Response Inter-agency Training (MERIT) Center.
Because the company owned the property, Menards was still "vested" in the project, according to Tom O'Neil, real estate management associate at Menards general office in September 2009.
The company at that time had halted construction on all new stores because of the economy, he added.
Menard Inc. development plans and agreement with the City of Monroe are now null and void, after the agreement expired last week.
But City Administrator Phil Rath said the city did "reach out to Menards" earlier this year.
"They were still interested," he said. "They just didn't realize the time had lapsed."
Rath said he and City Attorney Rex Ewald have been talking about how to maintain the relationship with the home improvement company.
"Even if the PUD (agreement) is over, we want to work with them to see what they could do, if they are interested," he added.
Jeff Abbott, spokesperson for Menard Inc., said Friday that the company had "nothing to report at this time" on any future plans for Monroe.
The original development agreement was made in January 2008 for a two-year term. The Common Council extended the term Nov. 17, 2009, for two more years.
The site plan called for a 162,000-square-foot retail store, plus 67,000 square feet of unheated covered space, located at the corner of Wisconsin 69 and Wis. 81/11.
The 2009 extension triggered the need for a new cost agreement with Menards, but there was no fundamental difference between the two agreements, Ewald said at the time.
Menards Corporation, based in Eau Claire, owns the 50 acres of property. Four large houses, known as the Whitehead homes, were removed privately from the property in 2008.
The Monroe Fire Department also removed three buildings located on the southeast corner of the property at Aebly Road and Wis. 69. The buildings were once Northland Building, Inc. Menards donated the buildings to the Monroe Emergency Response Inter-agency Training (MERIT) Center.
Because the company owned the property, Menards was still "vested" in the project, according to Tom O'Neil, real estate management associate at Menards general office in September 2009.
The company at that time had halted construction on all new stores because of the economy, he added.