Cuba City Student Participation Receives Recognition

Cuba City, WI. When Jenna Droessler and Teagan Graber joined Cuba City’s Downtown Task Force in January of 2019, high school involvement in the City’s government was virtually unknown. A little over one year later, these two high school seniors have made a great deal of impact upon the future plans for Cuba City and its downtown. Just two months into their term on the Task Force, they undertook a survey of 218 students on their desires for the City. This information played a significant role in many planning sessions for Cuba City. Their continued involvement led plans to upgrade the area known as the Presidential Plaza on Main Street and to make it more of a community gathering place. A second survey was completed just a few weeks ago with questions specific to the Plaza area.

With the assistance of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cuba City is planning to create a new community space on Main Street. The goal is to design a space that brings the community together, while also bringing new customers to Main Street businesses.

Operating as one of the University’s Senior Design Projects, the team is evaluating options to turn the area by the Presidential Caboose into a multi-function area that offers a wide range of activities including music, art, games and fitness options. In the past two years, Cuba City has based its Christmas Glow programming at this location and in 2019 it became the new home to the City’s long running Community Market. Both of these moves resulted in positive outcomes. “It was great to see so many young people visiting the Caboose” said Mayor Tom Gile. “At both the Christmas Glow and the Community Markets, we saw entire families coming downtown to partake of the activities.”

This project led to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, through its Main Street Program recognizing Cuba City for its youth involvement.