(Beaver Dam) The Beaver Dam mayor says recently approved incentives for a local company to redevelop the shuttered Chase Bank building downtown is a win-win for the business and the community. The agreement directs $100-thousand dollars in American Rescue Plan Act funds along with a $25-thousand-dollar grant from the city’s Façade Improvement Program to Magnastar LLC, which is affiliated with Inter-Quest of Beaver Dam.
The property at 200 North Spring Street has ground contamination, perhaps dating back to machine tool operations a century ago. Mayor Becky Glewen says the incentives are an opportunity for the community to support new business growth while also addressing contamination issues.
“Hopefully things take off,” says Glewen. “Of course, it’s a new area.”
Glewen says the new business would be focused on Esports, an increasingly popular form of multiplayer video game competition.
“That would be used primarily for school districts around, within a two-hour radius of Beaver Dam to compete.”
The mayor says that there is a growing interest in Esports among students and adds that colleges even recruit them to join their on-campus gaming teams. The videogaming facility could open its doors by the fall.
