Education
Vacating block of street near Hogan building brings La Crosse district a step closer to building a new elementary school
When La Crosse’s school board meets Monday night, it will get an update on plans to replace the Hogan Administrative building with a new school in the next two years.
City officials in La Crosse recently voted to vacate one block of a street next to Hogan. The 1800 block of Winnebago Street has not been open to regular traffic for many years, and is used for parking at the district offices. School superintendent Aaron Engel says vacating the block is something that should have been done long ago.
“It’s a parking lot, but it never got vacated,” Engel tells WIZM’s La Crosse Talk, “even though the site’s been a full school since 1899. And yet, for whatever reason, that hasn’t been taken care of in the last 126 years.”
Engel says that staff is expected to move out of Hogan in October, with demolition planned a short time later. Ground will be broken for the new school next spring, and that building could be ready for classes by the fall of 2027.
Libertarian Guy
June 18, 2025 at 12:20 am
Aaron, you sold Lincoln Middle School, so we thought, to a developer who needed tax/grant money to convert it to “affordable housing” (another taxpayer subsidized project) to save the district money, which has now fallen through months after the district expected to unload the cost of this building from the tax paying public. You have not mentioned any ideas or plans to actually get this deal completed. You have 3 additional schools to sell to “save money”, but are uncertain about actually selling because the land may be needed in an uncertain future. So the schools may stay in the district after all. You are tearing down the Hogan Admin Center (another waste) only to build a new school in its place at great cost for construction AND with borrowed money adding additional cost to to the debt service. And you still have not solved the operational budget shortfall by downsizing staff or other means. You are an incompetent manager of district finances. You have no concerns about increasing taxes on the district residents. And you also bear no personal tax consequences as a resident of Trempealeau, WI. I hear GET was glad to be rid of you. La Crosse understands why.
Sam
June 21, 2025 at 6:03 am
The Hogan area is losing housing as well as residents who are part of the tax base.
Richard Remye
June 18, 2025 at 4:11 am
Exciting to see real progress being made toward the new elementary school! Vacating that block may seem like a small step, but it’s a big move for the district’s future. Looking forward to seeing how this space transforms to better serve students and the community.