Beaver Dam Mayor Wants Downtown Trees

11/2/17 – Beaver Dam’s mayor wants to see trees in the downtown. Mayor Becky Glewen discussed the Urban Forestry Grant the city recently applied for when she was our guest recently on WBEV’s Community Comment. She says trees make an unbelievable difference in a community and because Beaver Dam is already recognized as a “Tree City,” trees would add even more value to the downtown. Glewen says the idea for trees stemmed from a downtown revitalization study that is currently underway. The city council recently hired MKM Architecture and Design of Fort Wayne, Indiana to conduct the study. Glewen points out that there has never been trees in downtown Beaver Dam. She says the terrace area is shorter than is ideal and research will have to be done to find the ideal type of tree for the downtown, which she notes is a state highway and gets a lot of traffic. Architect Zach Benedict is finalizing the downtown revitalization study which should be available this month.  Benedict has been working with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to address challenges and bring forward a recommendation. The downtown revitalization area is bordered by Mill, Vita, Maple and Beaver streets.