Courier Press

By Correne Martin

Prairie du Chien Downtown Revitalization Inc. dissolved in January of 2014. By October last year, a new entity, PdC Main Street, was conceived with a focus on re-establishing the efforts of economic recovery, historic preservation and promotion of downtown businesses. Since then, PdC Main Street has predominantly organized itself and worked to improve public esteem surrounding such a local main street program.

“We’ve spent the past year creating the organization, electing a board and officers, appointing committee chairs, finding volunteers and working on publicity,” PdC Main Street Chair Chris Mara stated. “All of that has taken time and effort. We’ve also spent the year trying to foster some good will and improve our worth in the eyes of the public. PDRI failed for a number of reasons we’ve come to understand, but we’ve tried to move forward.”

An open house is being held at Bluff Haven Assisted Living, 720 S. Fremont St., in Prairie du Chien on Wednesday, Nov. 4 from 3 to 7 p.m. The community is invited to celebrate this $1.6 million expansion project, which will include tours of this state-of the-art 14-bed addition.

There will be an apple pie and pumpkin pie bar social with ice cream. There will also be prize drawings for homemade pies made by the Bistro.

A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at 5 p.m.

According to Alesha Erdenberger, vice president of operations, the project will expand needed resident capacity of the assisted living community and will help serve the needs of this community. The community has been requesting this type of expanded healthcare services, and we are excited to provide this new space.

Prairie du Chien’s Memorial Library Capital Campaign received a generous personal donation of $50,000 from Major Sue Tiller.

Earlier this year, the city announced a $1.5 million Capital Campaign to match a $1.5 million contribution to the project by the common council. The project, estimated at $3 million, is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2017.

“I remember walking, so many times, straight down Minnesota Street to the library, and then coming home with all my many borrowed treasures,” said Tiller, a local business leader, proud 20-year Army veteran and past president of the Friends of the Library. “I was introduced to so much growing up from the library but, most of all, I remember how safe and warm I felt just being there, reading there, among all the books. So, I can’t think of a better place to give support to than our little library, because it’s time to make it even bigger and better.”

Local rock collector part of new book

By Ted Pennekamp

A Prairie du Chien rock collector is featured in a new book “Stromatolites: Ancient, Beautiful, and Earth-Altering.”