Door County will celebrate the groundbreaking for the Muse development on Third Avenue and Jefferson Street in Sturgeon Bay at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 20. The ceremony will be held on site and will include remarks from local dignitaries and project stakeholders. The public is invited to attend.
The ground floor of the nearly 14,000 square-foot facility will be developed for Muse, a music school and venue, which will house lesson rooms and a performance/event venue with a patio facing the corner of Third Avenue and Jefferson Street. Two public restrooms, accessible from the outside of the building, will also be located on the first floor. The second floor will house 11 affordable studio apartments.
Shirley Weese Young, the project’s developer, rehabbed several downtown Sturgeon Bay properties and currently manages two venues and five rental apartments.
“The development of Muse Sturgeon Bay will be a wonderful addition to the city as a creative destination, furthering the economic impact of the arts in Sturgeon Bay,” said Mayor David Ward. “In addition, the eleven affordable residential units for year-round residents will contribute to our need for housing opportunities.”
Executive Director Kaira Rouer and Artistic Director Dave Utzinger, well-known Door County musicians and business entrepreneurs, will manage Muse Sturgeon Bay. Rouer has earned a Master of Music degree in flute performance at the University of Denver in the Lamont School of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree from Lawrence University at the Conservatory of Music. Rouer has also started and managed several Door County businesses.
Utzinger received his bachelor’s degree from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, a master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with composer Richard Danielpour, and PhD in Music Theory and Composition from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he studied with composers David Lefkowitz, Eric Tanguy and Bruce Broughton.
“The Door County Economic Development Corporation is very proud to be working on this project with the city of Sturgeon Bay and the project’s developer, Shirley Weese Young,” says DCEDC Executive Director Michelle Lawrie. “The music school and venue will help enhance our community as a place where young talent and families thrive.”
Gary Ciepluch, Muse board president and Associate Professor Emeritus, Department of Music, College of Arts and Sciences at Case Western Reserve University, said fundraising for the project has begun.
“We are excited by the momentum of interest in our project and look forward to sharing Muse with all who are interested in learning more,” said Ciepluch.
Muse Sturgeon Bay is a not-for-profit organization that will provide inclusive, year-round, quality musical education, musical entertainment, and cultural enrichment for the local and seasonal community.
