The Buzz: Vintage Kaukauna building gets redo, not wrecking ball

Buy Photo

Renovation is underway on the vintage 1889 building at 150/152 E. 2nd St. in Kaukauna,(Photo: Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)Buy Photo

Reader question: What is happening to the old hardware store on Second Street and Lawe in Kaukauna? Are they fixing the building up and going to use it? Or are they getting ready to tear it down? Thank you for finding out.

Answer: Its owner, Clay Eiting, is fixing it up to lease it out. It will have commercial tenants on the ground floor and apartments on the second floor. The building is at 150/152 E. Second St., at the busy corner of State 55 and Crooks Avenue.

Five years ago, Eiting bought the building to use primarily as a billboard. He put up signs on the building directing people to Ghost Town Fitness, his longtime Kaukauna gym at 180 Fox Shores Drive. He figured he’d renovate the building and lease it to others later.

The 1889 building was erected by Julius Kuehn, Kaukana’s first blacksmith who later served two terms as mayor. In 1911, it became Fred Merbach’s hardware store, then Kaukauna Hardware.

The vacant building needed a lot of work and Eiting went through the steps to get state and federal approvals to restore it as an historic property.

“I was going for tax credits, but it got too expensive. I got a lot of quotes and everything came back too high,” Eiting said. “So I waited.”

Now, he’s not going for the tax credits, so he doesn’t have to follow the extensive historic guidelines.

“It’s still by no means cheap,” he said, declining to give a dollar estimate for the renovation.

“We’re basically remodeling it and doing four apartments upstairs and commercial space down below. I have one side leased out.”

Umer Sheikh is advising him on the renovation as a consultant. Sheikh recently redid The Reserve, an historic building in Neenah that now houses a ballroom, Lion’s Tail Brewing Co. and other businesses.

“I love bringing the old buildings to life. This was a great opportunity,” said Sheikh.

They hope to have the commercial space ready for the first tenant next month.

More: The Buzz: Eyesore no more in downtown Appleton?