Maureen Wallenfang
Appleton Post-Crescent
Published 7:55 AM EDT May 29, 2019
Reader question: Do you know if Norm’s Motel is closed? There are no cars there.
Answer: Norm’s Motel is a small, rundown motel at 1403 Green Valley Road in the Town of Neenah. It’s visible on the west side of Interstate 41, next to Stars Cabaret, a strip club.
It has no cars or activity around it, as you mentioned, and still has some Christmas decorations up.
The motel closed when its owner, Audrey Patoka, decided to retire.
“Audrey moved out of Norm’s Motel sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas,” said Ellen Skerke, clerk/treasurer for the Town of Neenah.
“She celebrated her 90th birthday last year,” Skerke said. “Retiring was a very difficult decision for her, but she’s doing well and is living with her daughter somewhere near Stevens Point.”
Authorities conducted a prostitution sting at Norm’s Motel last year and arrested five men for soliciting prostitution from an undercover officer.
But the sting played no part in the motel’s closure, said Capt. Dave Mack of the Winnebago County Sheriff’s office.
“They were not the focus of the investigation. They were cooperating with us and they allowed us to have a room for the alleged johns and the alleged prostitute,” said Capt. Dave Mack of the Winnebago County Sheriff’s office.
Skerke said she doesn’t think the motel property has been put up for sale so far.
“Audrey and her daughter have to figure that out,” she said.
The property was a hot spot decades ago because of its attached Norm’s Steakhouse, which is now the Stars building.
“It was the place to be,” said Skerke. “Norm was Audrey’s husband.”
Post-Crescent archives show that Norm’s Steakhouse was purchased in 1982 by former Green Bay Packers player Fuzzy Thurston and Bob Koehnke, and became Fuzzy’s Steakhouse. That restaurant was sold in 1984.
Contact Maureen Wallenfang at 920-993-7116 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @wallenfang.
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