Soaring property taxes force cultural group to consider changes for land in Glendale
Posted: May 18, 2006
Glendale - Barb Kletzke's feet ached. The heels of the traditional Bavarian trachten shoes worn for the schuhplattler were a little too tall for comfort.
So she kicked off the dancing shoes and put on a pair of clogs while watching a half-dozen men slap their thighs and heels as their partners twirled to the music of a German-made accordion at the Bavarian complex.
"I grew up in La Crosse and my mom and dad spoke German," said Kletzke, who now lives on the west side of Waukesha. "We came here for Oktoberfest, and I thought this is culture worth preserving."
Preserving and sharing that culture has long been the goal of the United German Societies, the umbrella organization for five area German fraternal organizations. But change is in the air, because preserving its land is becoming very expensive.
The 15-acre property just west of I-43 and south of Silver Spring Drive that the fraternal organization bought for $57,000 in 1943 is now assessed at $6 million, and the Bavarians had to borrow money to pay their $135,527 tax bill for 2006.
"We're struggling to stay alive," said John Klingseisen, president of the umbrella group. The property is home to the Bavarian Inn, a popular restaurant open to the public; Old Heidelberg Park, site of the annual Oktoberfest celebration in September; and several soccer fields used by 800 players, including an adult team that has won national championships in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
"Our number one choice would be to stay where we're at, but that may not be possible," Klingseisen said. "Our next choice would be to relocate on this property and have some of the rest of the land redeveloped. The worst-case scenario would be for us to relocate somewhere else."
Faced with the economic realities, the Bavarian group issued a request May 5 for developers to make proposals for redeveloping the property.
City of Glendale officials said that even before the club asked for development proposals, half a dozen developers had made inquiries about what could be built on the property.
No matter what option is chosen, diners can rest assured that not a single meal of sauerbraten will be missed nor will any of the scores of soccer games be called off for any reason other than rain: Nothing will be razed until a replacement is ready, Klingseisen said.
"We are definitely here to stay," said Klingseisen. "Nothing will happen until we have facilities."
Indeed, the future of the fraternal organization seems to be virtually guaranteed, despite declining membership in all of the groups except the soccer club.
John Jentz, a reference librarian at Marquette University who has studied and written extensively on German migration to this country, said many of the German immigrants who settled throughout the United States share one characteristic.
"They had a proclivity for buying property," Jentz said. "The first thing the Germans would do was buy a hall that would serve as a community center. Then they'd buy land for a soccer field. Well, a lot of that land is now in places where the value has accrued, and some of these organizations are sitting on gold mines."
The oldest of the local Bavarian groups, a singing club, was formed in 1895. The most recent was the soccer club, which was formed in 1929.
In the 1930s, the seven German groups bought a house on the east side of Port Washington Road, now the site of a motel. They also leased some of what was then farmland across the street, the group's current location.
"We came here because it was inexpensive land," Klingseisen said. "We created an island in Glendale that was something of a foreign country where you could speak your language and practice your customs."
In 1967, the Bavarians built the Bavarian Inn, a 21,000-square-foot building that looks like it was lifted from the Alps and plopped down on the 15-acre property at 700 W. Lexington Blvd. The groups went out on a limb, spending $600,000 on the building and $400,000 to furnish it, said Guenther Behre, a volunteer in charge of buildings and grounds.
Maintenance and upkeep is largely done by volunteers. Taxes and other expenses are paid by the proceeds of the restaurant and by special events such as the popular Oktoberfest. Taxes escalated in the early 1990s, and the Bavarians have unsuccessfully challenged Glendale's assessments. When the Bavarians complained about the city's $6 million assessment of their property, the city offered to buy it for that price, an offer that was declined.
The neighboring 8-acre property is owned by Manpower Inc., a Fortune 500 company that announced late last year that it was relocating to Milwaukee. At the time Glendale made its offer to the Bavarians, Manpower was still considering staying in Glendale.
"We planned on offering to sell the property to Manpower for their expansion," City Administrator Richard Maslowski said. "But if Manpower decided to move, the city understood that the property could still be developed."
The city will have considerable control over the development of both parcels, Maslowski said. It will be a mixed-use development that will likely include housing and commercial firms and possibly some office space, he said. The city is optimistic that the value of development will exceed the current value of Manpower and the Bavarian Inn, he said.
One developer asked the city if it would consider development of another parcel of land - a city-owned 13.8-acre parcel at 2500 W. Bender Road, a former landfill.
There's no debate over what the German group wants to do.
"We want to stay in Glendale," Klingseisen said. "We've been here a long time, and we think we fit into the city's long-term vision of being a community with European flavor."
Source: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=425120
Preserving German Culture
$57,000: Price that German group paid for land in 1943.
We created an island in Glendale that was something of a foreign country where you could speak your language and practice your customs. 
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