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FanFest canceled at last minute

Jasper Drengle hosted an event at Fire and Iron Gathering in March 2022. This year’s SShawano Speedway FanFest was canceled. File Photo

City of Clintonville says building not up to code

By Bert Lehman

With racecars being pushed into place and the Shawano Speedway FanFest only a couple hours away from opening on March 25 at Fire & Iron Gathering in Clintonville, the show was canceled.

The late cancellation led to a firestorm of speculation on Facebook as to why the show was being canceled, with many blaming Clintonville Fire Chief Shane Krueger for forcing the cancellation.

Krueger told the Clintonville Tribune-Gazette on March 25 that he did not cancel the show. He added that he was not at the Fire & Iron Gathering building that morning, nor was anyone else from the Clintonville Fire Department there.

He also said he did not communicate via phone with those running the show, nor did anyone with the Clintonville Fire Department.

Also early in the afternoon, and only hours after the show was canceled, the city of Clintonville released a press release regarding the situation.

According to the press release, on March 23 it was determined that the FanFest event could be held at Fire & Iron Gathering only if all the racecars were displayed outside.

This was due to outstanding state and local building and fire code violations that haven’t been addressed at the Fire & Iron Gathering building. The Wisconsin State Commercial Building inspector made the decision in collaboration with the city.

The press release further stated, “Since the beginning of 2022, the City has been working diligently with the 291 S. Main St. business to continue operation and to support entrepreneurship in our community. The City has made a good faith effort to work with the District 7 (actually District 5) Wisconsin State Commercial Building Inspector to continue to allow occupancy with contingency on the 291 S. Main St. business’ efforts of meeting fire and building code standards.

“The 291 S. Main St. business development progress has not met the timelines discussed with the District 7 (District 5) Wisconsin State Commercial Building Inspector and the City. On Saturday, March 25, 2023, the City reiterated the 291 S. Main St. business expectations with items to be addressed immediately with limitations on occupancy. Violations to any of the stipulations found are subject to immediate closure and revocation of open occupancy until which time the building is brought to current building code and has been approved for Occupancy by State of Wisconsin, City of Clintonville, and the Clintonville Fire Department.”

Timeline

When contacted by the Clintonville Tribune-Gazette via email regarding the situation, City Administrator Caz Muske provided a timeline of the city’s actions regarding the FanFest event.

Muske said the Clintonville Fire Department was notified on March 21 that the FanFest event was going to be held at the Fire & Iron Gathering building on March 25.

On March 22 the Clintonville Fire Department notified the city’s building inspector about the event. On March 23, the assistant fire chief with the Clintonville Fire Department and the city’s building inspector went to the Fire & Iron Gathering building to follow-up on outstanding code items that were outlined in an Oct. 3, 2022 meeting with the owner of the building.

“It was found there were items on the list that had not met the deadlines,” Muske said.

With the event being planned for months, the Tribune-Gazette asked Muske why the city waited until a few days before the event to bring these concerns to light.

Muske said that was due to the fire department not finding out about the event until March 21. After the fire department found out about the event, the verification process began.

Some on Facebook questioned why a racecar show could be held in the same building last year at this time, but it’s not allowed to have a car show this year.

In response, Muske said a year ago there were no businesses located inside the building, while now there are businesses located inside the building, so the occupancy of the building has changed.

“The building and fire codes required to have such event do not exist in the current state of the building,” Muske said, adding, “State Plans are required for occupancy of the building, which is in progress. State Plans address all codes based on intended occupancy of the building. The Business Owner has hired an engineering firm to complete this item.”

Muske said the city’s building inspector had informed the owner of the building by phone, and the business manager in-person, on March 23 that all the racecars had to be parked outside for the FanFest event on March 25.

When asked if they agreed to that, Muske said, “The Business Owner, Building Inspector, State Building Inspector, and Fire Chief all agreed on Thursday 3/23/23 to the stipulation added for the allowance of the event.”

She also added that no city employee or the building inspector were in communication with the owner of the building the morning of March 25.

Building history

As reported in the Clintonville Tribune-Gazette a little over a year ago, the former Shopko building was purchased by Shawano resident, Jasper Drengler, under a lease to own agreement.

At the time, Drengler told the Tribune-Gazette that his plans included having a portion of the building open to the public. This included a gym, a banquet hall, a gift shop, and a commons area in the middle of the building that would have an antique fire truck and a fireplace. He planned to use the back of the building for his race shop, where the BMW cars he races would be serviced and maintained.

The Tribune-Gazette sent messages to Drengler for comment regarding the current situation with the building. Those messages were not returned.
Muske said there has been a “disconnect” between the city and the owner of the building since their Oct. 3 meeting.

“The situation has graduated to being more complicated due to the other businesses that are now affected within this development,” Muske said. “As mentioned in the press release, we continue to work with the 291 S. Main St. Business Owner for the betterment of not only the businesses housed in the building, but also the safety of the public patronizing the businesses. The last thing we want to effect is the businesses’ livelihoods. Thus, the novel question is: ‘How can we continue to move forward with the State’s approval process and not significantly impact the businesses?’ Items were brought to light due to the 3/25/23 event and the implemented enforcement was a direct result of the code items not addressed in a timely manner. At the end of the day, we all want the same thing which is to make Clintonville a great place of diverse businesses that are safe to enjoy.”

Shawano Speedway response

Brad Luepke, marketing and promotions director for Shawano Speedway, said he was unaware of any issues between the city of Clintonville and the owner of the building.

He said during the planning stages of the FanFest event, he did not communicate with anybody from the city, as he communicated directly with Drengler.

“I don’t want to do anything against code,” Luepke said. “If somebody would have just contacted me in some fashion we could have canceled it (earlier).”

Luepke said he was also unaware of the city’s stipulation made on March 23 that all racecars had to be displayed outside. If he would have known about that stipulation, he would have canceled the show at that time.

Regarding cancelling the event only hours before it was scheduled to open to the public, Luepke said Drengler told him that morning that no additional cars could be brought into the building for FanFest. After some discussion it was decided to cancel the show.

“I’m not going to go against the ordinances and the codes that are laid out there,” Luepke said. “I had to do what I had to do.”

Although he was disappointed with the outcome, he said he was more disappointed for the fans and drivers because they had planned to be at the event all day.

Some of those drivers were from the Fox Valley and Green Bay areas, which were hit with a snowstorm that day. Some of those drivers hauled their racecars through snow to get to the event, only to have it canceled.

He said he also felt bad for the businesses located inside the building, adding that he talked to one of the businesses and they said they had extra employees on hand for the time FanFest was to take place because they thought it would be busy.

“It should have never come to this, Luepke said, adding “in the end it’s just a lack of communication.”

Moving forward

To address the situation, Muske said she held a meeting on March 27 with the owner of the building, the city’s building inspector, the state building inspector, the Clintonville fire chief, and the mayor of Clintonville “to clarify all expectations.”

“The intention was to make sure we were putting our community’s best interest first,” Muske said.

She added that she also planned a meeting with the director of the Clintonville Chamber of Commerce and Luepke.

“We know how loved Shawano Speedway (SS) is in our community; thus, the very least we could do is sit down and get to know each other,” Muske said. “We truly feel there could be a future where we better work together to have SS back in our community in a much more positive fashion.”

That future probably will not include another attempt at a FanFest in Clintonville. Luepke posted on Facebook on March 27 that he has contacted Shawano County officials about using the Crawford Center in Shawano for a FanFest event. The Crawford Center is located next to Shawano Speedway.

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