Who was moving to Mormon Coulee Road? A guessing game, 16 years ago

In early 2002, somebody from the Milwaukee area was interested in building a big store on the west side of Mormon Coulee Road in La Crosse, across from All-Star Lanes.  But the name of the client had not been revealed yet.  The manager of Woodman’s food market in Onalaska said it probably wasn’t going to be another Woodman’s.  He speculated that it might be Wal-Mart, which was in Onalaska at the time, but not in La Crosse.  Eventually, the south-side lot became the home of a Wal-Mart.

Amtrak was cutting back on its service hours in La Crosse and Winona.  The federal passenger rail service announced that the two depots would be closed on Saturdays and Sundays as a cost-cutting measure.  Amtrak’s Empire Builder only stopped in Winona and La Crosse two times a day…eastbound in the morning, and westbound at night.  La Crosse Mayor John Medinger was worried that the Amtrak route might be eliminated completely.  A study showed that the most popular eastbound destination for La Crosse travelers was Chicago.  Westbound riders went to the Twin Cities most often, 16 years ago, 2002, yesterday in La Crosse.