Eau Claire (WQOW) - A new "For Sale" sign has gone up near a busy part of Eau Claire.
The sign just went up on a 17-acre parcel along I-94, next to the Florian Gardens. The YMCA is asking $1.3 million for the land that it no longer needs. As WQOW News 18 reported almost two years ago, that's the same parcel the owner of Florian Gardens was looking at to build a convention center. Dave Burke says he's still hoping to buy the land. But he says if that falls through, there is still land available on two other sides of his facility.
Burke had planned to break ground on the convention center in 2010, but says the economy, planning and negotiations have slowed the process. He's now hoping for a groundbreaking this fall for a $20 million facility that would seat 12,000 people theater-style. Burke says it would create 200 full and part-time jobs. Talks are also in the works for an adjacent hotel.
