THE BRIGHT SIDE
The 30th Annual Winterfest 2025 is one week away. Get ready for some great winter fun.
Wednesday, January 29th through Sunday, February 2nd, everyone can enjoy watching the talented fifteen teams from across the nation create impressive snow sculptures. The days leading up to the start of Winterfest will be busy. The snow blocks will be created on Monday and Tuesday and Wrigley Drive will be blocked off to traffic between Broad Street and Center Street. The sculptures will be along the icy shores of Geneva Lake in Flat Iron Park and the Riviera Plaza.
There will also be dazzling ice sculptures throughout the downtown area, and one of the favorites, bonfires on the beach with hot cocoa and live entertainment and so much more outdoor winter fun. This is a great winter family weekend with so much to do and see. The event is free, and all comers can avoid the stress of parking in downtown Lake Geneva by utilizing the free shuttle, which will run from the park and ride on Sheridan Springs Road and the Home Depot parking lot on Edwards Boulevard all weekend.
The 172% price increase for the unconfirmed piers possibly to be built in the lagoon is being tabled for now.
The lagoon has a lot of work to get done before the city can approve the piers and the cost of the pers. The Piers, Harbor, and Lakefront Committee met last Tuesday. The meeting covered the approval of the seawall, dredging, and cost of the pier rentals. The seawall repair bid has been approved, and work is expected to be done by May 22, 2025. Dredging can be done after the seawall is completed but first a bid needs to be accepted. The dredging is expected to take at least a couple of weeks. The pier installation is not set in stone yet leaving the lagoon future still unknown. The RFPs for installation need to go out and a Bid needs to be awarded. With all this work to do it made no sense for the committee and the harbor master to determine a lagoon pier slip price.
The lagoon slips if approved cannot be installed until the other projects are complete. The lagoon is not big enough to accommodate the equipment and workers of multiple projects at once. This will push the potential pier installation into the beginning of summer. The renters lost the 2024 season completely and were hoping in the 2025 season they would be back on the water. With the way things are going, they are guaranteed to lose at least some of the 2025 season. The initial estimated price jump was justified by the cost of maintaining the lagoon and its slips and the work cost involved in getting the slips ready to rent once again.
The lagoon slips have a history of costing the city money as the rent revenue has never covered the cost of the maintenance, they require costing the city and taxpayers every year. While the city, mostly the piers, harbor, and lakefront committee wants to accommodate the lagoon slip renters the non-slip renter taxpayers of the city should not have to cover the cost. When the bids for pier installation come in and the numbers are crunched then city officials can decide if the lagoon piers are a fiscally responsible choice.