Tax credits allocated for redevelopment of Wyalusing Academy

Commonwealth Development Corporation, of Fond du Lac, has been allocated $479,231 in tax credits to redevelop the former Saint Mary’s Institute/Wyalusing Academy into apartments.

Lawler School Lofts, as the facility will be named, is a historic adaptive reuse project. The transformation into the 40-apartment complex on the 80,000-square-foot property is anticipated to start in the second half of 2016, according to Kevin McDonell, of Commonwealth.

“Commonwealth was selected to develop the property late last fall and has worked closely with all interested stakeholders to bring the project to fruition while preserving the historic details of the property,” McDonell said.

The project has been named Lawler School Lofts, after John Lawler. Lawler would transfer railroad cars and passengers across the river by ferry. In 1874, he created the pontoon railroad bridge that operated until 1961. Lawler donated the land, once a part of the second Fort Crawford, to the Catholic nuns for a girl’s school in 1870. Lawler also contributed funds for the construction of St. Mary’s Academy, the first college for women in Wisconsin. St. Mary’s Academy educated young women for almost a century before it closed in 1968. It operated as Wyalusing Academy from 1969 until 2013 as a private school and residential facility dedicated to teaching students life, academic and job skills.

River to Valley Initiatives, a non-profit that develops blighted properties in the Prairie du Chien and Platteville areas, has worked with Commonwealth on this project.