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County presentation lays out options for Health Care Center; board moves to closed session on sale
Summary
Rock County staff on June 5 gave supervisors a high-level briefing on the Rock County Health Care Center building and its condition, telling the board that demolition and redevelopment would likely cost less and create more efficient space than renovating the existing 1972 structure.
Rock County staff on June 5 gave supervisors a high-level briefing on the Rock County Health Care Center building and its role within the county’s Highway 51 campus, telling the board earlier that demolition and redevelopment would likely cost less and create more efficient space than renovating the existing 1972 structure.
A county staff member explained the building’s history and the assessments that led to the recommendation to remove the structure. The Health Care Center, built in 1972 originally as a psychiatric hospital, has five floors plus a ground level and long corridors and concrete support columns that limit efficient reconfiguration. County staff said a 2017 analysis and a 2018 facilities master plan both concluded renovation would cost more than demolition and new construction, and an appraisal performed late in 2024 pegged the property’s value without the building at $520,000; the appraisal concluded the building itself had no residual value.
County staff described a schedule in which hazardous-material abatement and demolition were planned as part of the facilities master plan sequence (abatement noted for early 2024 and demolition discussed for early 2025 in staff comments), and said the county solicited interest from multiple developers to explore potential reuse, including multifamily housing. Aerial imagery presented to the board showed the Health Care Center’s location amid the sheriff’s office, jail, UW-Extension offices and other county facilities on the Highway 51 complex. The presentation identified factors that make renovation inefficient, including the building’s block structure, interior columns and corridor-focused layout.
After the presentation the board approved motions to move into closed session to discuss negotiations related to the Health Care Center and legal strategy on an unrelated workers’ compensation claim.
Formal actions
- Motion to go into executive session pursuant to Wis. Stat. §19.85(1)(e) to deliberate negotiation of sale of public property (Rock County Health Care Center) (moved by Supervisor Woodman; seconded by Supervisor Mawhinney): passed by roll call (board reported 27 yes, 2 no when roll call completed). - Motion to enter executive session pursuant to Wis. Stat. §19.85(1)(g) to confer with legal counsel regarding likely litigation (workers’ compensation claim of Sarah Vance) (moved by Supervisor Mawhinney; seconded by Supervisor Knutson): passed by roll call (27-2).
Why it matters
The Health Care Center sits inside a concentrated campus of county facilities. Staff told the board the structure’s layout and condition limit its usefulness and that demolition and rebuilding would likely yield operational efficiencies and better reuse options (including multifamily housing, which the county solicited developers to evaluate). The board’s move to closed session begins the next phase of negotiating how to proceed with the property and any potential sale or redevelopment.
What’s next
The board discussed and then entered closed session to deliberate negotiation strategy for the property and separately to discuss litigation strategy. Any eventual sale, demolition timeline, or redevelopment plan will be reported back in open session as required by law.
