Marshfield council warned Weinbrenner building is "in poor condition" as staff outlines consultant spending

Jeff Walter, the city’s facilities management coordinator, told the Marshfield Common Council on Feb. 10 that the Weinbrenner building is "in poor condition" and warned maintenance costs could rise once the building is vacated.

"The building, in my opinion, overall as it stands right now is in poor condition," Walter said, describing limited heating beyond the main floor, an aging steam boiler that is not heating upper floors reliably, and single‑pane windows that will accelerate heat loss. He said flooring and ceiling conditions are "questionable" and that vacating the building would increase the heat load and deterioration.

City Administrator Steve Barr followed with an overview of the city’s multi‑phase consultant relationship tied to downtown redevelopment and the Weinbrenner property. Barr said the city paid $50,000 for the original West 2nd Street plan adopted in 2022, authorized $99,000 for implementation phases in 2024–25, and has spent $94,031 through January 2026. One additional invoice of $3,225 was pending, which Barr said would bring total payments to $97,256 — "a little bit under $2,000 below budget."

Barr said Vanderwall-led work included property owner outreach, two RFQs for the Weinbrenner property that did not yield acceptable redevelopment offers, and preparatory tasks the consultant called "building blocks" for later action. He urged the council to schedule a substantive discussion in coming weeks on whether to re-evaluate prior offers, pursue interim uses, seek a new developer, or consider sale options that could include affordable housing.

Council members asked staff to return with additional detail, including options and timetable, noting that taking ownership sometime this summer rather than spring would still expose the city to substantial heating and vandalism risks if not actively managed. Barr and staff committed to providing more options and cost estimates before the next major decision.

Next steps: staff will bring more detailed options and cost estimates for council consideration at an upcoming meeting; no formal policy decision was made at the Feb. 10 session.