THE BRIGHT SIDE – Lisa Otto
Town Bank located at 567 Broad Street Lake Geneva is about to make some major changes.
This property has been many things over the years including Ace Hardware, Sentry Foods, Palmer Bank, and currently Town Bank. The Lake Geneva Plan Commission held a public hearing and recommended approval for a conditional use permit allowing changes to be made. A representative for Town Bank presented a proposal for new construction of the currently more than ten thousand square foot building to be razed and a new bank building with a drive thru to take its place. The property is a large lot that borders Broad, North, and Dodge Streets. The improvements are proposed for the area near the intersection of Broad and North Street with no changes to the rest of the property at this time.
The project includes the demolition of the current building and rebuilding a new bank, cutting the square footage a lot. The new construction will be 3,836 square feet. This is a much smaller footprint and a much more visually pleasing building. The staff of the bank is excited and feel the site plan is a big improvement over current condition. The drive thru will be along the back of the bank building and the front will be closer to the sidewalk with a much more downtown look which is what city officials are striving for. Now that the proposal has been approved, watch for updates on the razing and future discussion on the plans for the unused remaining land. The current parking lot will remain with the addition of some new lighting. The current, mostly empty, lot may have changes being discussed. Future parking lot or structure? There are rumors but just rumors.
The Ridge Hotel on Highway 50 five miles west of Lake Geneva.
This place has come a long way. In its latest iteration, it’s super clean, very polite, extremely friendly and a lot higher quality and lower cost than many places in downtown Lake Geneva. The parking is expansive, always available, and free. The lobby is cool but with fireplaces for ‘pocket warmth.’ The staff is, well, when you walk in you are greeted by a surprise voice welcoming you. Think those things don’t mean much? When the publisher of this newspaper owned an international company, he stayed at the Regent Hotel in Hong Kong.
Upon his second visit there, weeks later, he was greeted at the door with “welcome home, sir.” The door was opened, and he was ushered straight to his already pre-selected room and told that he could check in later when he was rested and settled from his journey. “But what about the money?” he asked, as he was taken to the room. “It’s not about the money, sir,” the bellman said, “it’s about the fact that you are now part of the Regent family.” The publisher went on to make the Regent Hotel the core operating place for all his Asian Operations on into the future.
