MONROE - The National Historic Cheesemakers Center could be located next to another historic Monroe building, the Suisse House, in the 1600 block of 12th Street.
It is a dream still in the works, but there's a feeling it can be done, held by those who have made dreams come true before.
An artistic rendering of the old Monroe Cheese Corporation building refitted and renovated to house the proposed multi-purpose center was on display Thursday evening at the Monroe Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Business After 5 social event.
The event was hosted by the Green County Welcome Center, which is the present home of the National Historic Cheesemakers museum and archives.
"We love this place," said Donna Bahler, vice president of the National Historic Cheesemakers Executive Board, about the present center. "It's warm and friendly ... we don't want to lose what we have here."
Volunteers spent about 10 years getting an abandoned railroad station moved to a prominent location along Wisconsin 69 and 21st Street and renovated. They then filled it with items, pictures and records from the history of cheesemaking, focusing on Wisconsin and especially Green County, the heart of cheese country.
"They said we couldn't do it," said Bahler, who was there from the start.
It now receives "thousands of visitors from every state and from every corner of the world," she said.
J.D. Milburn, a small business specialist with Wisconsin Department of Commerce, Bureau of Downtown and Community Revitalization, has been meeting with the Cheesemakers' steering committee to help them explore their facility, mission and goals for the future and present center.
"I'll continue to work with them until it becomes a reality and gets its own legs," he said.
Some goals the Cheesemakers have expressed for the center are educating the public about the past, present and future of cheesemaking; honoring all cheesemakers; gathering the heritage of cheesemaking and keeping it together; and being a resource for the history of cheesemaking. Above all, the Cheesemakers want the national designation.
The center would reach out not just to tourists, but also to students of all grades and history buffs everywhere.
A new, larger and multifunctional center located downtown could "help make downtown vibrant again, and be part of the community," Bahler said.
But some members of the Cheesemakers are concerned about what might be lost with moving from the quaint railroad station - the ambiance.
"We are exploring the future, and we want to incorporate this building," Bahler said.
Dr. David Riese, a member of the steering committee, thinks it can be done.
"Ambiance can be transferred to downtown or to any building," he said. "The building downtown already has ambiance."
Milburn said the Welcome Center would not become defunct without the cheesemakers' displays.
"You always need a Welcome Center," he said.
In fact, one committee idea was to leave some displays intact at the Welcome Center, as an incentive to visitors to come downtown to the National Historic Cheesemakers Center.
Milburn said he has seen other communities make a success of a large project.
"When the community get behind a project, and get behind it for their own pride, they move things along," he said.
It is a dream still in the works, but there's a feeling it can be done, held by those who have made dreams come true before.
An artistic rendering of the old Monroe Cheese Corporation building refitted and renovated to house the proposed multi-purpose center was on display Thursday evening at the Monroe Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Business After 5 social event.
The event was hosted by the Green County Welcome Center, which is the present home of the National Historic Cheesemakers museum and archives.
"We love this place," said Donna Bahler, vice president of the National Historic Cheesemakers Executive Board, about the present center. "It's warm and friendly ... we don't want to lose what we have here."
Volunteers spent about 10 years getting an abandoned railroad station moved to a prominent location along Wisconsin 69 and 21st Street and renovated. They then filled it with items, pictures and records from the history of cheesemaking, focusing on Wisconsin and especially Green County, the heart of cheese country.
"They said we couldn't do it," said Bahler, who was there from the start.
It now receives "thousands of visitors from every state and from every corner of the world," she said.
J.D. Milburn, a small business specialist with Wisconsin Department of Commerce, Bureau of Downtown and Community Revitalization, has been meeting with the Cheesemakers' steering committee to help them explore their facility, mission and goals for the future and present center.
"I'll continue to work with them until it becomes a reality and gets its own legs," he said.
Some goals the Cheesemakers have expressed for the center are educating the public about the past, present and future of cheesemaking; honoring all cheesemakers; gathering the heritage of cheesemaking and keeping it together; and being a resource for the history of cheesemaking. Above all, the Cheesemakers want the national designation.
The center would reach out not just to tourists, but also to students of all grades and history buffs everywhere.
A new, larger and multifunctional center located downtown could "help make downtown vibrant again, and be part of the community," Bahler said.
But some members of the Cheesemakers are concerned about what might be lost with moving from the quaint railroad station - the ambiance.
"We are exploring the future, and we want to incorporate this building," Bahler said.
Dr. David Riese, a member of the steering committee, thinks it can be done.
"Ambiance can be transferred to downtown or to any building," he said. "The building downtown already has ambiance."
Milburn said the Welcome Center would not become defunct without the cheesemakers' displays.
"You always need a Welcome Center," he said.
In fact, one committee idea was to leave some displays intact at the Welcome Center, as an incentive to visitors to come downtown to the National Historic Cheesemakers Center.
Milburn said he has seen other communities make a success of a large project.
"When the community get behind a project, and get behind it for their own pride, they move things along," he said.