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1750 Ohio Street (Racine, Wisconsin)

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Coordinates: 42°42′29″N 87°50′15″W / 42.70809°N 87.83757°W / 42.70809; -87.83757 1750 Ohio Street is a building in the city of Racine, Wisconsin, on the southwestern corner of Byrd Avenue and Ohio Street. The Racine County Bike Trail runs behind the building. Built in 1976 to house 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.[1] The S.S. Kresge Company, owners of the Kmart chain, stated in 1971 that they were considering opening a store in Racine.[2] In March 1974, Schostak Brothers and Co. of Southfield, Michigan proposed building 140,000 square feet of retail space at the site.[3] 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.[4]

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."[1] Schostak revised its plans to avoid using the 1.7 acres, which are now the site of 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.[5]

Regardless of zoning issues, the proposed development was unpopular among local residents. The Racine Unified School District wrote to the city plan commission in opposition, saying it was concerned that a shopping center at the location would create problems for the nearby Giese Elementary School and Starbuck Junior High School. City director of planning Thomas Wright described the site as "the worst place in the world for a commercial enterprise", and the city plan commission rejected the proposal in a 4–3 vote.[6]

Schostak returned to the city plan commission in September with a modified version of the proposal. The new plan downsized the building from 140,000 to 114,000 square feet, removing the smaller retail spaces that would have been attached to the Kmart and the supermarket. While the revised plan did not eliminate the concerns of local residents, one previously skeptical member of the planning commission was convinced, and the new proposal was approved in a 4–3 vote.[7] The Racine City Council protested the decision during their October 1 meeting, voting 11–7 in favor of asking the city plan commission to reconsider,[8] which the commission later rejected.[9]

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.[10] 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,[11] and agreed to replace the trees with "the best trees available" at any cost.[12] 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.[13]

In October 1975, nearly $2,000 worth of copper wire belonging to McGraw Electric was stolen from the construction site.[14] 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.[15]

Kmart #4477 (1976–1992)

The Kmart store, store #4477, opened on April 1, 1976, on time for Kresge's plans to have the store ready for the Easter shopping season.[16] The opening was unaffected by a nationwide Teamsters strike going on at the time, which included the store's delivery drivers.[17] The Kmart store was granted a license to serve fermented malt beverages in September 1981.[18] In 1983, the store was one of five Kmarts in Wisconsin to offer home improvement merchandise in a "Homecare Center" department.[19]

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.[20]
  • On June 21, 1978, three Racine teenagers were injured in a motorcycle collision directly behind the store.[21]
  • On May 13, 1979, a 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.[22]
  • On May 28, 1981, a 28-year-old Racine woman shoplifted three pairs of shoes from the Kmart store.[23]
  • On June 26, 1983, at 4:12 p.m., the Racine Fire Department was called to extinguish a grass fire on the property.[24]
  • 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.[25]
  • On June 3, 1984, three video recorders with a total value of $1,427 were reported missing and presumed stolen from the Kmart store.[26]
  • 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.[27] A 30-year-old Milwaukee man was convicted of the robbery.[28]
  • On December 5, 1985, a 37-year-old 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 store #27 at 4801 Washington Avenue.[29]
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Plan Board Opposes K mart Rezoning", Racine Journal Times, March 28, 1974, pages 1A and 3A.
  2. ↑ "K Mart Considers Racine", Racine Journal Times, June 23, 1971, page 6C.
  3. ↑ "Propose Shopping Center", Racine Journal Times, March 20, 1974, front page.
  4. ↑ "K mart Believed to Be Store for Proposed City Development", Racine Journal Times, March 22, 1974, front page.
  5. ↑ "Obstacles to confront request for K mart", Racine Journal Times, June 6, 1974, front page.
  6. ↑ Herman, Robert J. "Plan agency turns down K mart shopping center", Racine Journal Times, June 13, 1974, front page.
  7. ↑ "K mart construction ok'd", Racine Journal Times, September 25, 1974, pages 1A and 3A.
  8. ↑ Herman, Robert J. "Aldermen talk about zoning, parks, police, sewers", Racine Journal Times, October 2, 1974, page 5A.
  9. ↑ "K-mart site approval stands", Racine Journal Times, October 10, 1974, page 4A.
  10. ↑ Pfankuchen, David. "Construction of K mart to begin within 3 weeks", Racine Journal Times, June 1, 1975, page 1D.
  11. ↑ Pfankuchen, David. "7 oaks illegally cut at site for K mart", Racine Journal Times, June 17, 1975, front page.
  12. ↑ Frahm, Robert A. "Oaks will be replaced", Racine Journal Times, June 23, 1975, front page.
  13. ↑ Pfankuchen, David. "Strike slows construction", Racine Journal Times, June 17, 1975, page 3A.
  14. ↑ "Police beat", Racine Journal Times, October 21, 1975, page 3A.
  15. ↑ Herman, Robert J. "40 trees to replace 7 lost oaks", Racine Journal Times, October 29, 1975, front page.
  16. ↑ Pfankuchen, David. "K mart will open Thursday", Racine Journal Times, March 28, 1976, page 12A.
  17. ↑ "Teamster strike impact light here—so far", Racine Journal Times, April 1, 1976, page 1E.
  18. ↑ "License and Welfare Committee Report", Racine Journal Times, September 5, 1981, page 4B.
  19. ↑ Advertisement, Racine Journal Times, November 2, 1983, page 28.
  20. ↑ "Police beat", Racine Journal Times, November 16, 1976, page 3A.
  21. ↑ "Police", Racine Journal Times, June 22, 1978, page 1B.
  22. ↑ "Courts", Racine Journal Times, April 22, 1982, page 3B.
  23. ↑ "Courts", Racine Journal Times, February 2, 1982, page 3B.
  24. ↑ "Racine Fire Calls", Racine Journal Times, June 27, 1983, page 3A.
  25. ↑ "Courts", Racine Journal Times, June 19, 1984, page 5A.
  26. ↑ "Police", Racine Journal Times, June 4, 1984, page 5A.
  27. ↑ "Police", Racine Journal Times, November 18, 1984, page 4A.
  28. ↑ "Courts", Racine Journal Times, April 9, 1985, page 5A.
  29. ↑ "Christmas stealing?", Racine Journal Times, December 6, 1985, page 4A.
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