MONROE - Once just a field of dreams, the World Destination Cheese Center initiative is moving with its story of cheesemaking to more solid ground.
The group behind the proposed center wants to move ahead with fund-raising efforts after receiving a favorable environmental study of the Monroe Cheese Corp. building, eyed as the future home of the center in downtown Monroe.
To raise the necessary $3 million to purchase, renovate and outfit the tourist center for cheesemaking demonstrations, interactive displays, a gift shop and cafe, and other functions, members of the executive committee say they are going to continue to move with "due diligence."
Sharon Riese, co-president of the executive committee, said the tourist attracting center is a "golden opportunity," not only for Monroe and Green County, but for the state and the nation.
"If we don't make it happen, someone else will," she said. "But we need the community buy-in."
The initiative group has been touting Green County, with its world-class cheesemakers, its world-class cheeses and its well-known history of cheesemaking, as the perfect spot for the center, and wants to make it happen ahead of competing cities.
"I'd hate to see us miss this opportunity," said Donna Bahler, another WCDC executive committee member. "Because we are so branded (as the cheese center of the nation.)"
So far the group has been able to use only city and state grant money to do a feasibility study of the project and inspections of the Cheese Corp. building.
"We're kind of tight with our money," said Barb Nelson, the group's secretary. "We're looking at every dollar we spend, and we will continue to do so."
The group said more grant money is available to help create the center. Many of those grants require a community's share of funding to invest in the project before approval. The amount the World Cheese center needs to raise is still unknown.
But the group has begun testing the waters to see if community interest is viable and sustainable for the long haul.
Letters have been sent to the "movers and shakers of the community," said Stephen Eliasson, a member of the committee.
A Power Point presentation is available for community organizations to learn more about the proposed center.
Members of the group are also going into the community to talk with business owners about potential concerns about the center.
Ron Marsh, an executive committee member, said local business owners needn't worry about the center taking away their customers. In fact, he said it promises to bring in as many as 10,000 new customers the first year.
"That's 10,000 new people who have never been here before," he added. "This center will generate new clientele coming to our community."
Marsh pointed out that 13 percent of every tourist dollar goes to lodging, 27 percent to food. But shopping is the big ticket item - 30 percent goes toward to shopping.
"That's what you do when you go to a destination," Marsh added, "and that's not just for the cheese center, but for every other business owner."
Group members say they are right in time to start the center: Short vacations trips and the culinary arts are in vogue.
The Minhas beer memorabilia museum saw a 33 percent growth in its visitors in 2011, over the previous year, and has added five more museum employees, according to Bahler, who is employed by Minhas.
"We need to build on the momentum," she said.
Riese likes to use the quote from the movie, "Field of Dreams": "If you build it, they will come."
Nelson, the daughter of a cheesemaker, echoes that sentiment, saying the county has a story to tell the world, about its many cheesemakers and their famous products.
"If people don't have their hearts in the agri-business and cheese industries, it's not going to go," she said. "These people (of the executive committee) have invested a lot of time and effort in it, because they believe in it. If you don't believe in it, let it go. But I'll still tell the story."
The group behind the proposed center wants to move ahead with fund-raising efforts after receiving a favorable environmental study of the Monroe Cheese Corp. building, eyed as the future home of the center in downtown Monroe.
To raise the necessary $3 million to purchase, renovate and outfit the tourist center for cheesemaking demonstrations, interactive displays, a gift shop and cafe, and other functions, members of the executive committee say they are going to continue to move with "due diligence."
Sharon Riese, co-president of the executive committee, said the tourist attracting center is a "golden opportunity," not only for Monroe and Green County, but for the state and the nation.
"If we don't make it happen, someone else will," she said. "But we need the community buy-in."
The initiative group has been touting Green County, with its world-class cheesemakers, its world-class cheeses and its well-known history of cheesemaking, as the perfect spot for the center, and wants to make it happen ahead of competing cities.
"I'd hate to see us miss this opportunity," said Donna Bahler, another WCDC executive committee member. "Because we are so branded (as the cheese center of the nation.)"
So far the group has been able to use only city and state grant money to do a feasibility study of the project and inspections of the Cheese Corp. building.
"We're kind of tight with our money," said Barb Nelson, the group's secretary. "We're looking at every dollar we spend, and we will continue to do so."
The group said more grant money is available to help create the center. Many of those grants require a community's share of funding to invest in the project before approval. The amount the World Cheese center needs to raise is still unknown.
But the group has begun testing the waters to see if community interest is viable and sustainable for the long haul.
Letters have been sent to the "movers and shakers of the community," said Stephen Eliasson, a member of the committee.
A Power Point presentation is available for community organizations to learn more about the proposed center.
Members of the group are also going into the community to talk with business owners about potential concerns about the center.
Ron Marsh, an executive committee member, said local business owners needn't worry about the center taking away their customers. In fact, he said it promises to bring in as many as 10,000 new customers the first year.
"That's 10,000 new people who have never been here before," he added. "This center will generate new clientele coming to our community."
Marsh pointed out that 13 percent of every tourist dollar goes to lodging, 27 percent to food. But shopping is the big ticket item - 30 percent goes toward to shopping.
"That's what you do when you go to a destination," Marsh added, "and that's not just for the cheese center, but for every other business owner."
Group members say they are right in time to start the center: Short vacations trips and the culinary arts are in vogue.
The Minhas beer memorabilia museum saw a 33 percent growth in its visitors in 2011, over the previous year, and has added five more museum employees, according to Bahler, who is employed by Minhas.
"We need to build on the momentum," she said.
Riese likes to use the quote from the movie, "Field of Dreams": "If you build it, they will come."
Nelson, the daughter of a cheesemaker, echoes that sentiment, saying the county has a story to tell the world, about its many cheesemakers and their famous products.
"If people don't have their hearts in the agri-business and cheese industries, it's not going to go," she said. "These people (of the executive committee) have invested a lot of time and effort in it, because they believe in it. If you don't believe in it, let it go. But I'll still tell the story."