Rock County staff outline Health Care Center demolition, appraisal and developer outreach; board votes to enter closed session on sale negotiations

Rock County staff gave the full board a high-level overview on June 5 of the history and disposition options for the county Health Care Center building, noting prior facility studies, an appraisal and developer outreach.

The presenter said the 1972-era building originally served as a psychiatric hospital and later housed nursing-home and county department space. Facility analyses in 2017 and again during a 2018 countywide master plan concluded that renovation would be more expensive and less efficient than demolition and new construction because of the building’s block structure and internal concrete columns.

The county completed an appraisal in late 2024 that, according to staff, identified the best use of the site as multifamily housing and placed the land value without the building at about $520,000; the appraisal found the existing building had “zero” market value. Staff told supervisors that the county had solicited interest from about 10 potential developers to explore redevelopment options.

The presenter walked supervisors through aerial footage of the Highway 51 campus to show the Health Care Center’s proximity to the nursing home, sheriff’s office, jail, maintenance facilities and other county buildings. Staff also described a schedule that previously included hazardous-material abatement and demolition work planned in earlier phases of the county facilities master plan.

Because the county is in active negotiations over the property, the board later voted to convene an executive session under Wis. Stat. § 19.85(1)(e) to deliberate the negotiation of the sale of public property. The motion to go into closed session was made by Supervisor Woodman and seconded by Supervisor Mawhinney; the roll-call result was recorded as 27–2 in favor of entering closed session. The agenda also included a separate executive-session item under Wis. Stat. § 19.85(1)(g) about a workers’ compensation claim.

What the board did and did not decide

In open session staff provided background, appraisal results and a summary of outreach to potential developers. No public sale terms or a final disposition were disclosed in open session. The board’s roll-call vote authorized staff to meet in closed session to deliberate negotiation strategy and the property’s sale under the cited statutes.

Why it matters

The Health Care Center sits in the middle of the county’s Highway 51 complex. Staff said demolition and redevelopment would simplify campus operations and could create a buildable site suited to multifamily development; the appraisal and developer outreach are the preliminary steps in determining whether a sale and redevelopment are feasible.

Key details

• Building originally opened in 1972 as a psychiatric hospital; later used for nursing-home and county departmental space.

• Facility assessments (2017; countywide master plan 2018) concluded renovation would be more costly and less efficient than demolition and new construction.

• A late-2024 appraisal identified the land value without the building at roughly $520,000 and assigned no market value to the existing building.

• The county solicited interest from about 10 developers; staff showed aerial video of the Highway 51 campus during the presentation.

• The board voted to enter closed session to deliberate sale negotiations, 27–2.

Quotes

"It would cost us more money to renovate this building than to tear it down and build anew," the presenter said, describing earlier consultant findings.

Next steps

Negotiations and developer communications will continue in closed session. Because the board invoked Wis. Stat. § 19.85(1)(e), details of the strategy discussion will not be public until disclosed in open session or as required by law.