Wisconsin 42 to stay closed at site of explosions
Wisconsin 42 to stay closed at site of explosions; Building demolition planned for next week
By Paige Funkhouser, Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers / Original story appeared in Green Bay Press Gazette
ELLISON BAY — Wisconsin 42 will remain closed this weekend as investigators continue to monitor gas levels after explosions Monday that killed a Michigan couple and injured seven people.
Demolition of the historic Pioneer Store, one of three buildings at the Cedar Grove Resort that were destroyed when gas ignited around 2:30 a.m. Monday, still is needed before the highway can open, officials say. Investigators blamed the explosions on propane after finding a severed gas line.
“The possibility of opening State 42 is not in the town’s best interest” this weekend, Liberty Grove Town Chairman Charlie Most said, “with the gapers’ block it would cause. And I would hate to see any looting of the store.”
Demolition of the store is tentatively scheduled to start Tuesday, for completion Wednesday afternoon. If the work can be done on that timeline, Wisconsin 42 could open to the public Wednesday evening. No cost estimates for the demolition were reported Friday.
In the meantime, a 6-foot-high chain-link fence will be installed around the Cedar Grove properties north of Wills Park to the southwest corner of Cedar Branch Road and down to the shore. Cedar Shore Road will be blocked off.
Property owners who live on Cedar Branch Road will have access to their homes. The 40 boat owners with slips and boats at the town dock near the Cedar Grove Resort will have limited access to their boats for the next two to three weeks.
The fence could remain in place for up to six weeks, said Mark Harrison of General Casualty Insurance, an insurance investigator for the Cedar Grove Resort.
Harrison said his job is to represent the Cedar Grove Resort and its owners, the Harold Smith family, to coordinate the insurance investigators’ efforts, establish damages and reach a settlement with the party that severed the gas pipe.
Gas levels were being monitored Friday by emergency service crews within the cordoned-off area. Homeowners and most business owners were allowed back into their buildings Friday, with the exception of The Viking Grill, Caxton Bookstore and the Marathon gas station.
Liberty Grove town supervisors met Friday afternoon with town attorney Jack Bruce and Harrison to approve razing the Pioneer Store.
Bruce told the board that the Pioneer Store was deemed unsafe for habitation and razing the building would be the next appropriate step. The insurance companies and store owner Carol Newman would be responsible for the costs associated with the demolition.