Vines Come Down As Cranes Move In

The long, crawling vines on the building at 101 State St., home to the Joseph B. Funke Candy Co. from 1898 to 1933 and more recently the Ross Furniture store, are coming down. And the cranes are now moving in on Don Weber’s recently purchased building, a 116-year-old former candy factory. The building will be turned into a multi-million-dollar luxury boutique hotel in downtown La Crosse.

Weber and his wife bought the State Street property for $1.5 million in December 2012, after Ross Furniture had used the site for five decades. Their son Nick is project manager.

Weber plans a Charamont boutique hotel.