Jackson Square brings new space to downtown

Photo by Bill Olmsted

Jackson Square, in the first block of South Jackson St. in downtown Aanesville in the first new commercial building in downtown Janesville in some time. In addition to housing Forward Janesville, the building has space for other tenants available.

JANESVILLE — Jackson Square building in downtown Janesville is more than office space for several organizations and their employees.

The project is considered a catalyst for downtown revitalization. It included extensive renovation and the downtown’s first new commercial construction in five years.

Jackson Square is now home to Forward Janesville, the Janesville Design & Development Center and the Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin.

“This is quite simply a great economic redevelopment project,” said Christine Moore, administrator of the JDDC, a resource center for the economic and aesthetic revitalization of downtown Janesville.

“The project took old buildings that were in disrepair, renovated them and married them with a new building.”

The Forward Foundation, which is affiliated with Forward Janesville, redeveloped 6,000 square feet of space in buildings at 14 and 18 S. Jackson, while Midwest General Developers put up an adjoining 8,000-square-foot building at the northwest corner of Jackson and Dodge streets.

Forward Janesville

The city’s private economic development organization moved into the renovated space at 14 S. Jackson earlier this year.

The move wasn’t far, as Forward Janesville had called the kitty-corner building at 51 S. Jackson St. home for years.

“Our board decided to go this direction and take this risk to do a demo project that shows what can be done downtown when you renovate tired old buildings and, in this case, combine them with a brand new building,” said John Beckord, Forward Janesville’s president.

Beckord said his organization is operating more efficiently in what he called a “front door” to the downtown.

“We’re much more visible, much more accessible and much more functional for the kind of work we do,” he said.

Janesville Design & Development Center

The center—created in 2004 through a partnership of Forward Janesville, the city of Janesville and the Downtown Development Alliance—first opened its doors in temporary quarters at Angus-Young Associates on South River Street.

“It was a gorgeous space for us, but we were too much on the edge of the downtown,” Moore said. “We needed to be more centrally located, and because we’re supported by Forward Janesville it made sense to be near them.”

Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin

The foundation started in 1992 as a tax-exempt public charity. It receives and invests tax-deductible gifts and distributes a portion of the earnings through grant awards to enhance the quality of life in southern Wisconsin.

Last month, the foundation moved into about 3,000 square feet in the second level of the new building at 26 S. Jackson St.

Sue Conley, the organization’s executive director, wants to make the remaining 1,000 square feet on the second floor available as shared office space for other non-profits.

Midwest General is trying to find tenants for the first floor.

“We wanted to add staff, but we had nowhere to put them,” Conley said of the foundation’s former office on North Main Street. “Our board felt strongly about being downtown and also wanted to be part of a redevelopment project that could be a catalyst for the downtown.”