1750 Ohio Street (Racine, Wisconsin): Difference between revisions
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'''1750 Ohio Street''' is a building in the city of [[Racine, Wisconsin|Racine]], [[Wisconsin]], on the southwestern corner of [[Byrd Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)|Byrd Avenue]] and [[Ohio Street (Racine, Wisconsin)|Ohio Street]]. The [[Racine County Bike Trail]] runs behind the building. Built in 1976 to house [[Kmart 4477|Racine's first Kmart store]], which moved out of the building in 1992, the building is currently home to the headquarters of [[Rogan's Shoes]], a local footwear retail chain.
==History==
===Construction (1974–1976)===
The area surrounding 1750 Ohio Street was annexed by the city of Racine in 1959.<ref name=opposes-rezoning>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43871956/the_journal_times/ "Plan Board Opposes K mart Rezoning"], [[Racine Journal Times]], March 28, 1974, pages 1A and [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43872994/the_journal_times/ 3A].</ref> The [[S.S. Kresge Company]], owners of the Kmart chain, stated in 1971 that they were considering opening a store in Racine.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43870929/the_journal_times/ "K Mart Considers Racine"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 23, 1971, page 6C.</ref> In March 1974, [[Schostak Brothers and Co.]] of [[Southfield, Michigan]] proposed building 140,000 square feet of retail space at the site.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43871745/the_journal_times/ "Propose Shopping Center"], [[Racine Journal Times]], March 20, 1974, front page.</ref> Schostak's proposal included a supermarket and an 84,000-square-foot space for a discount department store. The [[Racine Journal Times]] speculated that Kmart was planning to fill that space, which the S.S. Kresge Company did not deny.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43871571/the_journal_times/ "K mart Believed to Be Store for Proposed City Development"], [[Racine Journal Times]], March 22, 1974, front page.</ref>
Schostak's initial plan for the site was to be built on a 15-acre plot, which included roughly 13 acres already zoned for light manufacturing (M-1) and 1.7 acres zoned for multiple-family residential housing (R-4). The City Plan Commission rejected Schostak's proposal to rezone those 1.7 acres so that it could be part of their shopping center, saying that the area was zoned residential by the county before it was annexed by the city, and "had been set up as a buffer between residents to the north and the light manufacturing area to the south."<ref name=opposes-rezoning/> Schostak revised its plans to avoid using the 1.7 acres, which are now the site of [[Chateau I and II Apartments (Racine, Wisconsin)|Chateau I and II Apartments]]. Local residents opposed to the development proposed in June 1974 that the city's zoning ordinances should be changed, so that shopping centers could no longer be built in areas zoned for light manufacturing.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43873295/the_journal_times/ "Obstacles to confront request for K mart"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 6, 1974, front page.</ref>
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As Schostak prepared to begin construction in June 1975, it stated that only the Kmart would be built at first, leaving the supermarket as a possible future addition to the west.<ref>Pfankuchen, David. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43875842/the_journal_times/ "Construction of K mart to begin within 3 weeks"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 1, 1975, page 1D.</ref> On June 13, a subcontractor hired by grading contractor [[A. W. Oakes & Son]] illegally cut down seven oak trees along Byrd Avenue and Ohio Street, which Schostak had previously agreed to keep on the site. Schostak described the felling as an oversight caused by its failure to instruct its subcontractors to leave the trees standing,<ref>Pfankuchen, David. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43876191/the_journal_times/ "7 oaks illegally cut at site for K mart"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 17, 1975, front page.</ref> and agreed to replace the trees with "the best trees available" at any cost.<ref>Frahm, Robert A. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43876938/the_journal_times/ "Oaks will be replaced"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 23, 1975, front page.</ref> Grading on the site was halted again at the end of June by a statewide strike of [[Operating Engineers Local 139]], the construction equipment engineers' union.<ref>Pfankuchen, David. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43877134/the_journal_times/ "Strike slows construction"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 17, 1975, page 3A.</ref>
In October 1975, nearly $2,000 worth of copper wire belonging to [[McGraw Electric]] was stolen from the construction site.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43877967/the_journal_times/ "Police beat"], [[Racine Journal Times]], October 21, 1975, page 3A.</ref> On October 28, the city plan commission approved Schostak's proposal to replace the seven illegally felled oaks with forty new trees purchased from [[Clauss Bros.]] of [[Roselle, Illinois]], and install a drainage system for the new trees, with an expected cost of about $45,000.<ref>Herman, Robert J. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43878146/the_journal_times/ "40 trees to replace 7 lost oaks"], [[Racine Journal Times]], October 29, 1975, front page.</ref>
===Kmart #4477 (1976–1992)===
The Kmart store, [[Kmart 4477|store #4477]], opened on April 1, 1976, on time for Kresge's plans to have the store ready for the Easter shopping season.<ref>Pfankuchen, David. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43878744/the_journal_times/ "K mart will open Thursday"], [[Racine Journal Times]], March 28, 1976, page 12A.</ref> The opening was unaffected by a nationwide Teamsters strike going on at the time, which included the store's delivery drivers.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43878892/the_journal_times/ "Teamster strike impact light here—so far"], [[Racine Journal Times]], April 1, 1976, page 1E.</ref> The Kmart store was granted a license to serve fermented malt beverages in September 1981.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43879981/the_journal_times/ "License and Welfare Committee Report"], [[Racine Journal Times]], September 5, 1981, page 4B.</ref> In 1983, the store was one of five Kmarts in Wisconsin to offer home improvement merchandise in a "Homecare Center" department.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/image/343467109/ Advertisement], [[Racine Journal Times]], November 2, 1983, page 28.</ref>
====Incidents====
* On November 15, 1976, camera equipment and a CB radio valued at $1,600 were stolen from a car in the store's parking lot.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43879195/the_journal_times/ "Police beat"], [[Racine Journal Times]], November 16, 1976, page 3A.</ref>
* On June 21, 1978, three Racine teenagers were injured in a motorcycle collision directly behind the store.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43879456/the_journal_times/ "Police"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 22, 1978, page 1B.</ref>
* On May 13, 1979, a [[Caledonia, Wisconsin|Caledonia]] woman was injured when she slipped and fell on a slippery floor at the store, and later sued the store for $100,000 in damages in April 1982.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43880447/the_journal_times/ "Courts"], [[Racine Journal Times]], April 22, 1982, page 3B.</ref>
* On May 28, 1981, a 28-year-old Racine woman shoplifted three pairs of shoes from the Kmart store.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43880172/the_journal_times/ "Courts"], [[Racine Journal Times]], February 2, 1982, page 3B.</ref>
* On June 26, 1983, at 4:12 p.m., the Racine Fire Department was called to extinguish a grass fire on the property.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43880826/the_journal_times/ "Racine Fire Calls"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 27, 1983, page 3A.</ref>
* On November 1, 1983, the Kmart Auto Center performed a routine wheel replacement which was allegedly done improperly, leading the car's wheel to fall off and cause a traffic accident two days later. The children of the car's owner, who was injured in the accident, sued Kmart for negligence, seeking $232,500 in damages.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43881516/the_journal_times/ "Courts"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 19, 1984, page 5A.</ref>
* On June 3, 1984, three video recorders with a total value of $1,427 were reported missing and presumed stolen from the Kmart store.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43881351/the_journal_times/ "Police"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 4, 1984, page 5A.</ref>
* On November 17, 1984, at about 6 p.m., the Kmart store was robbed of $1,200 by a man claiming to have a gun.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43881982/the_journal_times/ "Police"], [[Racine Journal Times]], November 18, 1984, page 4A.</ref> A 30-year-old Milwaukee man was convicted of the robbery.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43882165/the_journal_times/ "Courts"], [[Racine Journal Times]], April 9, 1985, page 5A.</ref>
* On December 5, 1985, a 37-year-old [[Burlington, Wisconsin|Burlington]] woman and a 17-year-old girl were arrested for shoplifting at Kmart, and police allegedly discovered evidence in the woman's car that she had also shoplifted from the nearby [[Shopko 27|Shopko store #27]] at [[4801 Washington Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)|4801 Washington Avenue]].<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43882314/the_journal_times/ "Christmas stealing?"], [[Racine Journal Times]], December 6, 1985, page 4A.</ref>
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