The Janesville of 2025 is a much different city. The most dramatic change being the end of auto production at General Motors (GM) in 2008. When the dust settled, one out of three Janesville residents lost a job or had someone in their family who did, according to Washington Post reporter Amy Goldstein. Metamorphosis Following GM’s departure, Janesville persevered, grew, diversified, and expanded. The downtown is alive and truly vibrant for the first time in decades. Businesses that once showed their worst side to the Rock River now present a welcoming face, and the parking ramp has been replaced with a popular event area that includes Town Square, Festival Street (sponsored by Blackhawk Community Credit Union) and the Blain-Gilbertson Heritage Bridge. The mall, now known as Uptown Janesville, is about to be boosted by the Woodman’s Sports and Convention Center. Families will have a new resource and the resurging downtown will benefit from the thousands of expected visitors the Children’s Museum of Rock County will bring. And the city is planning to take ownership of the former GM/JATCO property with ambitious plans to redevelop the site. After the GM shutdown, Janesville’s leadership had to take stock of its new reality and what its future could be. Forward Janesville, through its charitable arm the Forward Foundation, stepped forward by partnering in Rock County 5.0, a unified economic vision that was instrumental in recruiting SHINE Technologies to the area; and ARISENow, which turned the tide and kicked the transformation of downtown Janesville into high gear. Tremendous progress has been made in the last decade, but the work of Forward Janesville and city leadership is by no means complete. New, exciting projects dot our landscape. Equally important is the commitment to maintain and grow our current businesses. 2025 will be a pivotal year for the city. A New Community Space The Woodman’s Sports & Convention Center, or Woodman’s Center for short, is a project that has been years in the marking. It will take a giant leap forward in 2025 with a grand opening set for later this year. Construction is underway and close to completion on the former site of Sears at Uptown Janesville. This massive $47 million project is expected to be a major boost to the local economy, with city officials estimating that it will create 228 jobs and $23 million in annual economic impact. At approximately 140,000 square feet, the Woodman’s Center will feature a year-round permanent ice arena and two large multi-use spaces for conferences, events and sports. Its opening promises to be a huge shot in the arm for Janesville’s north side - particularly for Uptown Janesville, the retail mall it sits next to. After a tough decade where Uptown Janesville lost three major anchor stores and numerous other retailers, the arrival of the Woodman’s Center is expected to reverse the mall’s fortunes in a big way. “We’ve lost so many of our stores,” says Julie Cubbage, general manager of Uptown Janesville. “I feel like it’s a skeleton out there. Amazon and COVID have really changed the way that people buy things. I’m hoping that (the Woodman’s Center) will revitalize the entire property.” Cubbage and the shopping mall’s owners, RockStep Capital, see the addition of the center as an opportunity to reinvent the mall and set a new course for its future.“I don’t see the property being a ‘mall,’” Cubbage says. “I see (it) being more of a mixed-use property. Still having [retailers like] Kohl’s and Dick’s and Ulta, but I see the actual mall itself being changed. “I’ve had a lot of requests for office space and things like that. So that’s putting money into vacant spaces that were normally retail and re-configuring them. Maybe a space here at the mall becomes a ghost kitchen for the caterers or the restaurants that cater events taking place in [the Woodman’s Center]. There is a whole plethora of ideas for things that could happen here. The mall will definitely What’s Next, Janesville? Big things are happening in 2025 By Jim Lyke When Forward Janesville formed in 1990, General Motors was the city’s largest employer. Parker Pen’s world headquarters were located on North Parker Drive. The Janesville Mall, full of stores and always busy with customers, was about to undergo a major remodeling. In the heart of downtown, a parking ramp covered part of the Rock River. Tremendous progress has been made in the last decade, but the work of Forward Janesville and city leadership is by no means complete. New, exciting projects dot our landscape. 6 | FORWARD JANESVILLE The Woodman’s Center will be a major facelift for Uptown Janesville and a revamp for the entire Milton Avenue commercial corridor (conceptual rendering) It's not just Uptown Janesville that’s going to benefit. All these businesses along Milton Avenue will benefit. You’re already seeing little bits and pieces of it. Once the facility opens, you’re going to see a lot more.
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