“Friends, Funds, and Fields: The Long Campaign to Save Hillmoor”

Local voices call for trees and trails. Others hear opportunity knocking.

This spring Hillmoor Commission has developed an evaluation framework for the potential uses of the property. Thanks to Mark Davids.

The Critical Criteria are as follows:

1.Is the project aligned with the City’s Vision?

Fred Gahl who was on the first Hillmoor committee stated” I think it would be very important to have a discussion prior to that regarding whether there should be buildings at all on the property. In other words, the original vision statement was approved by the City Council. Was very emphatic on having it be an open property for generations to come”

On behalf of the Community, should there even be buildings out there whatsoever?”
Fred Gahl

2.Duplicate_ Does the project amenity already exist in other parts of the city?

The Lake Geneva Chamber of Commerce and the YMCA already have facilities in Lake Geneva. The Y wants to develop a Reginal Sports facility for 31 communities from outside the city and is very big in sports tournaments in the summer. They have received about $640K in funding in the last two years to fix up the fields in Veterans Park from the Lake Geneva Tourist Commission. The same people who are at the head of the Y are also part of the elite members of Visit Lake Geneva.

3.Need_ Is there an unmet need for the amenity in the City?

In the last 30 years Lake Geneva has seen significant residential development, but the big developers have gotten away with little if any open space for parks. Or if they have the space is not accessible to the public.
The downtown parks are packed with tourists all summer with “events” and many times completely cordoned off with a pay wall.

4.Level of Interest_ The community’s support for the amenity?

Since Jim Conner was Mayor in 2008 there have been a hard-core group of residents who have been trying to “Save Hillmoor”. The same level of interest has led to the formation of “Friends of Hillmoor,” an organization actively engaged in educational lectures and hands-on conservation restoration projects at Hillmoor.
Williams Bay Kishwauketoe Nature Conservancy is maintained by the residents of Williams Bay since 1989 and was founded by Harold Friestad while serving as the Village President.

“There is nothing better for people both physically and mentally than a walk in nature, stop and hug a tree…”
Harold J. Friestad

5.Compete_ Does the project or amenity compete with similar projects already provided by other organizations or businesses?

Lake Geneva already has a YMCA and a Visitors Center and a band shell. It also has businesses that provide daycare and spas.

The Complete Criteria is provided below. But the final say Mayor Krase has stated is reserved for the residents of Lake Geneva is a “survey” to be mailed out.

The 800-pound gorilla hanging over the project is that for some reason the leadership of the local YMCA believe they are privileged stakeholders of the Hillmoor property for their own use for a special “deal price”.

Mayor Krause is working on a price to sell it to the Y; the residents be dammed.  

“There there’s a bigger issue we’re trying to figure out. What is the land value of the of the Hillmoor property? If we were even going to sell anything, what is that? We are working on trying to understand the land value and we have reached out. I had the city administrator who has authority. To go out and get a land value. He did as of last November. We are still trying to get that number back because the problem is it’s such a unique situation. It’s a parcel that’s unique by itself. But then with the restrictions on top of it.”

“It makes it even more unique and so there were numbers that they came back to us at and roughly anywhere from 10 to $250,000 an acre, which really doesn’t do us any good because we don’t know how to how do.”

Your correspondent has filed a FOIA request with the city for those land valuations and for any correspondence between the city and White River Holdings LLC the sellers who put restrictions on the property. As of June 1, 2025, I have received confirmation that the city has acknowledged the request. When I receive the information, I will put the link to the source materials so any reporter or person in the world will have access to them.

The Commission then authorized Krajovic to work with the YMCA and try to figure out what exactly they want.

Mayor Krause then clued the commissioners in about the bond covenants that go with the property.

The commission also will be working with DOT on Highway 50 reconstruction with the state paying for a much-needed sidewalk along Hillmoor. It should be wide enough for both pedestrians and cyclists.  

At the May 8,2025 Hillmoor Commission meeting Mayor Krause announced that the state had approved the city’s grant for trails on the section land used for frisbee golf. The commission now is under a 12-month time to get the trails in that section of land in with building standards and to engage for architectural service which the council has now sent out RFP’s.

It sounds like the city has a value of $750K an acre for the land because there was a lot of discussion about that price and that it would put it out of the YMCA’s reach. That is the armchair approach of valuation based on what Buona Beef paid for land they built on down the road on Edwards Blvd..

The commission also has put out a very informative newsletter which gives places to park so the public can now use the Hillmoor Nature Park and frisbee golf.

Peg Esposito and Betty Volquardsen from Friends of Hillmoor delivered a presentation on their activities. The Commission granted them permission to undertake brush cleaning by removing invasive species and performing ecological restoration on the land.