Bristol Village Board endorses concept of moving old town hall building to Firemen’s Park

An exterior view of the old Bristol Town Hall along Highway C in Bristol Woods County Park.

An exterior view of the old Bristol Town Hall along Highway C in Bristol Woods County Park.

The Bristol Village Board unanimously endorsed the concept of moving the old town hall building to Firemen’s Park, across 198th Avenue from the current Village Hall/Municipal Building.

The old town hall currently is located inside Bristol Woods County Park along Highway C. That is the building’s original location.

The Village Board’s concept of moving the building includes using no taxpayers’ funds to complete the project. Instead, the move and any needed work to the building would be paid for by the Western Kenosha County Historical Society.

The Village Board has been discussing the fate of the building off and on for about two years. Doing something with the building, such as hosting occasional meetings in the building, was suggested by Trustee John McCabe.

Bu obstacles emerged. The building is now owned by the county, which uses it for storage. To host events or meetings in its current spot, the building would have to have several renovations, such as adding rest rooms and meeting Americans with Disabilities requirements. The building now has no electric service. Parking in the county park is an over one mile walk away from the hall along a hiking trail.

If the building remains where it is, the county is not interested in renovating it and it likely would just continue to be used for storage. County officials are OK with allowing the building to be moved and ownership assumed by another entity.

Moving the building to the Westosha Senior Center grounds also along Highway C was considered for a while but ultimately rejected by the center. That’s when the latest breakthrough came via the Western Kenosha County Historical Society.

The society is willing to fund the move, either to the park in Trevor where it has other historical buildings or to a suitable location in Bristol, said society lifetime member Shirley Davidson, a Bristol resident and former town chairman. Her personal preference would be to find another location in Bristol, she said at Wednesday’s Village Board meeting.

McCabe suggested moving the building to Firemen’s Park, which he said would have room for the building.

Such a move could solve some of the problems that arise with using the building for functions in the current location, said Trustee Colleen Fisch. At Firemen’s Park, there would be parking and the municipal building across the street could provide the restroom facilities.

Fisch moved to support the concept of the move, pending legal and other considerations. That motion passed unanimously.

“The concept we support, the details we don’t know yet,” Fisch said.

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  1. Mark J Miller says:

    This is a great idea, I hope it can workout.
    This is apart of our history as a town, with the memorial to our men and women who served in our armed forces, to the fireman’s park and now the old town hall all in one area. This will help teach our kids and new family’s the heritage of our town and village now. Thank-you to all who have been involved in this process!!

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