What do you think about the Edgewater Hotel redevelopment proposal?

Enhance Madison's
'picture postcard'
The proposed plan for the redevelopment of the Edgewater Hotel is a step in preserving all that is good about Madison.
Robert Dunn's ability to make things happen has proven itself all over the country. He can get this done, on time and on budget. We have lacked that kind of developer vision and leadership in the past.
The Edgewater is Madison's picture postcard. How can we as a "progressive city" not support its future and its legacy? Our history is our truth. We must preserve, enhance and protect our city fathers' vision of Madison. John Olin would be proud of us enhancing lake access for all so Madison can truly live up to its promise.
-- Mark Schmitz, Madison, principal and creative director, ZD Studios

For area residents,
bigger not always better
Supersizing something doesn't necessarily improve it. For many who work and live in the Downtown Mansion Hill district, and other Madisonians, the proposed Edgewater plan leaves much to be desired.
Madison is a great city to visit but is becoming less desirable to live in. We are proud of our beautiful capital city and want to share it with visitors and reap the financial benefits, but not to the detriment of those of us who call Downtown home.
Traffic congestion and parking are bad. In addition to state government workers and UW-Madison students and staff, events hosted Downtown draw hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. Sustainability of life on the Isthmus may be reaching the tipping point, if it hasn't already.
Instead of touting a plan to draw even more people to my neighborhood and promote more access to the polluted air and algae-ridden lake, pause and consider. We already have enough Downtown visitors and enough public access to Lake Mendota, such as James Madison Park, Union Terrace, the entire lakeshore drive from the Union to Picnic Point, Tenney Park, Governor Nelson State Park and Mendota County Park.
Save and renovate the Edgewater Hotel, but don't supersize it or dress up the plan for developer gain under the guise of "public access." Instead, let's clean our lakes and air, keep Downtown livable and save Mansion Hill's historic integrity.
-- Susan Spahn, Madison

Project will protect
Edgewater's history
The Edgewater has been operated by my family for the past 61 years. My father, Augie, owned the hotel from 1963 until his death in 1996.
As I reflect on the legacy of my father and the Edgewater, I feel a sense of pride because the hotel resonates with the gregarious spirit of my father and the people and events that brought the Edgewater to life.
Positioning the property for the next 100 years requires the vision of a talented developer. Our family has been approached by and declined many developers over the last decade. We think Bob Dunn and the Hammes Co. has the depth and experience to complete this difficult project, while appreciating the property's history and legacy.
The hotel has always been an important part of the neighborhood, the university, Downtown and the community overall. I have personally witnessed how the Hammes Co. has engaged the interests of every faction of the community to shape the vision for this project, and I applaud their efforts.
-- A. Scott Faulkner, president,
The Edgewater Hotel
 

Value will be added to
Wisconsin Ave. corridor
I am very supportive of the new project for the Edgewater Hotel. Madison and the university should be excited about this new opportunity Downtown. The board of Downtown Madison Inc., under the leadership of Susan Schmitz, should be supportive of this new opportunity.
What a great time to boost the local economy and provide many new jobs and a growing tax base. It will be a wonderful expansion of the use of Lake Mendota and will add value to the Wisconsin Avenue corridor.
Madison is fortunate to benefit from Bob Dunn's vision, along with the hotel expertise of Scott Faulkner. As a retired banker who spent 35 years seeking a prosperous and dynamic Downtown, this project should add one more reason to want to live, work, play and visit Downtown Madison.
-- Robert C. O'Malley, Madison

Boost for workers,
tax revenue, businesses
Thinking big and then moving forward with big projects is the best medicine to quickly restore our state's sick economy to good health.
Developer Robert Dunn's bold idea for an extreme makeover of Madison's celebrated Edgewater Hotel is an example of the thinking we need most in hard times. His proposed $107 million project will have an immediate impact by creating over 1,000 jobs for skilled trade workers, including members of Operating Engineers Local 139.
Starting work on this project will benefit the state's economy immediately by putting laid-off construction workers back to work and stopping their draw on unemployment benefits. As these workers earn paychecks, the state will collect income tax from them, which can fund more public works projects.
And when the workers spend their paychecks, the state will collect more sales tax revenue. Feeling they're a little better off because they have jobs, these workers may dine out more often, perhaps allowing restaurant owners to hire more help.
The same positive cycle applies to the purchase of large quantities of construction materials needed for such a project. And when the restored hotel opens, hopefully no later than 2012, more jobs will be created to staff the property.
This is not the time to place unnecessary hurdles in the path of a project which has the potential for delivering much economic good in a relatively short period of time. City officials should move this project forward, mindful that thinking small or moving slowly will increase the recession's pain.
-- Terrance E. McGowan,
business manager, International Union
of Operating Engineers Local 139,
Wisconsin

Don't let minority
opposition derail it
What an impressive and long overdue blueprint Robert Dunn and his company have created to make the mundane Edgewater Hotel into Madison's new crown jewel while still preserving segments of its history.
It appears the developer has done his homework in a professional manner and is working hard to keep everyone happy. I hope he will continue to move his plan forward in the time frame outlined and not get derailed by a minority opposition which seems to kick up its heels every time new opportunity presents itself in Madison.
Dunn's plan is exciting and should not even cause a ripple along the Mendota shoreline.
-- Tom Palmtag, Sun Prairie

Take advantage of
lovely lakefront venue
This could be a valuable public space for the city, Downtown businesses and residents.
How many of us travel to other U.S. cities such as San Antonio, Baltimore, Seattle, Milwaukee, San Francisco and Chicago just to enjoy the dynamic river, bay and lakefront areas these municipalities have worked cooperatively with developers to create?
The Edgewater has a great deal more potential given its location, and I look forward to seeing this project move forward.
-- Rob Long, Madison