Press Release: ICYMI: Gov. Evers Joins Local Leaders to Celebrate Relocation of Century-Old Coal Piles in Green Bay 

State of Wisconsin sent this bulletin at 07/09/2026 01:00 PM CDT
Office of Governor Tony Evers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 9, 2026
Contact: GovPress@wisconsin.gov 
 
ICYMI: Gov. Evers Joins Local Leaders to Celebrate Relocation of Century-Old Coal Piles in Green Bay 
Governor and city officials celebrate new era of development in downtown Green Bay 
MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers, together with Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA) Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld, earlier this week, joined local, county, and company officials from Brown County, the city of Green Bay, and the C. Reiss Company to celebrate the culmination of efforts over the last seven years to relocate the coal piles near the Port of Green Bay. The relocation of the coal piles has been years in the making and will help revitalize the downtown area and make way for future development for a key maritime region. As noted by Gov. Evers during the event, the Evers Administration has been a staunch advocate of this project, committing nearly $41 million in state investments to support the project over the last seven years.

“While these coal piles have been a feature of Green Bay for well over a century, it is time to usher in a new era of what this property can and should be for the people of Green Bay,” said Gov. Evers. “Moving these coal piles for the future development of this site has been no small feat. It's been a years-long process that my administration and I have been proud to help support. Whether it’s improvements to the port or support for relocation efforts, these have been dollars well invested. I look forward to seeing the next chapter Green Bay will write for itself and for all those who live and work here.”

Gov. Evers joins state, county, local, and C. Reiss company officials to celebrate the relocation of coal piles in Green Bay.
Gov. Evers joins state, county, local, and C. Reiss company officials in Green Bay to celebrate moving forward with the relocation of coal piles near the Port of Green Bay. 
On Tues., June 7, Brown County officials signed a lease agreement with C. Reiss, the current owner of the coal piles, for a 60-year lease of the northern portion of the former WPS Pulliam Power Plant site in downtown Green Bay. Under the terms of the agreement, C. Reiss will relocate the company’s salt piles from its Fox River Terminals, located just south of the Pulliam site, to the new Pulliam Plant location. The company’s coal piles, currently located along the Fox River near W. Mason St., where they have sat for more than a century, will then move to the Fox River Terminals, freeing up the space for new mixed-use development.

In 2021, Gov. Evers and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation were proud to support Brown County with a $500,000 grant from the Idle Sites Redevelopment Program to help buy the former Pulliam Plant property as part of the effort to relocate the coal piles away from downtown and expand the economic activity of the Port of Green Bay. In 2022, to further support this project, Gov. Evers announced his administration had awarded Brown County $15 million as part of the Neighborhood Investment Fund. As noted above, relocating the coal will remove a barrier to neighborhood revitalization and a hazard to the environment and public health, improving air and water quality and overall quality of life for residents, while infrastructure improvements and updates at the site will provide a positive economic benefit to the area. 

Additionally, the state provided $5.4 million through the Harbor Assistance Grant Program to support port development at the Pulliam site, as well as $20 million in the 2025-27 Biennial Budget, bringing total state commitment to nearly $41 million.  
 
An online version of this release is available here.
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