Packers Heritage Trail Plaza to be moved

GREEN BAY, WI – (WGBW) – The Packers Heritage Trail Plaza will be moved. 

One day before a court hearing was scheduled on a lawsuit filed by Packers Heritage Trail, Inc. against the City of Green Bay, the parties agreed the monument and statues would be moved from the corner of North Washington and Cherry Streets downtown. 

The move makes way for a new 268-unit luxury apartment complex to be built in its footprint. The City of Green Bay approved construction of the complex this fall. 

The Packers Heritage Trail Plaza holds statues of Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, team co-founder George Whitney Calhoun, and others. The plaza has been in downtown Green Bay since 2013.

A hearing was scheduled for Wednesday, October 30, 2024, in Brown County Circuit Court over the lawsuit. The agreement helps both parties avoid the need for litigation said Packers Heritage Trail, Inc. attorney David H. Weber.

“While my client does not wish to keep the City from moving forward in its preferred direction, it also needs to protect the Heritage Plaza,” Weber said in a letter to Judge Tammy J. Hock.

The Green Bay Packers, who acquired the Packers Heritage Train Foundation, a 501(c) (3) non profit corporation, in 2017.

In a statement released yesterday they said they are disappointed with the City’s decision but will take their statues and find a suitable and permanent new location.

“The Packers are disappointed with the City’s insistence that the Packers Heritage Trail Plaza be removed. The City approached the Packers Heritage Trail Foundation in 2012 to establish the Plaza. The City chose the location, which is centrally located and has historical significance, as a permanent addition to the Heritage Trail. Through the donations of the Packers and many others, the Plaza opened in 2013 and was a tremendous success. The Packers felt the current location was the best location. The City insisted on moving the Plaza so they can move forward with their planned development, so the Packers will take the Plaza and determine a suitable and permanent new location.”

Green Bay Packers

In his letter to Judge Hock, Weber said the parties are working to resolve the restraining order and will file joint dismissal papers before the end of this year.