OCONOMOWOC \u2014 With the potential to draw clientele from Madison to Milwaukee, the creation of the entertainment venture The Social in what was the Olympia Ski Hill and Chalet is well underway but has a long way to go before it can welcome guests to play pickleball and arcade games or eat and drink in its restaurant.<\/p>\n
A team of five, Nathan and Nicole Stoppenbach, Kevin and Heather Havens, and Matt Neumann, is planning to transform the 70,000-square-foot concrete, bunker-like building at 1340 Snyder Way that has sat empty for years into a regional destination that can appeal to kids and adults alike.<\/p>\n
Plans call for indoor pickleball courts on the first floor, as well as a caf\u00e9 with lighter fare. The second floor will be a restaurant and offices while the third floor and mezzanine will offer high-end arcade games, sports simulators and possible mini bowling. The expanded roof will be open as a beer garden and will provide yard games, seating and a performance stage. The roof space will lead out to the former ski hill, which is where mini golf, rope courses and playgrounds will be.<\/p>\n
The Stoppenbachs and Kevin Havens provided insight into the plans for the approximately $23 million project. The gutting work is largely done and this month, work on constructing the new facilities will begin.<\/p>\n
Havens said the building provided a “good starting point” but one that clearly “needs a little cosmetic upgrade.” That will include many new windows to both open the building up to the outdoors, as well as between floors. Each floor also has its own outside balcony and with the building being constructed into the former ski hill, access can be made at ground level every level, including from the roof.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n A large open space inside the former Olympia Ski Hill and Chalet in Oconomowoc will be transformed into 10 indoor pickleball courts when it opens as The Social.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Nathan Stoppenbach said they had floated the idea of opening a family-friendly entertainment venture in the area and when the former Olympia building was suggested to them, they found it to be a great option.<\/p>\n As Oconomowoc residents, the business partners knew there was a need for a place for people to have fun, whether that be for a kid\u2019s birthday party or a corporate outing.<\/p>\n Havens said he remembered when Olympia \u201cused to be the place to be.\u201d He said he wants to once again make it a \u201cmecca of entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Oconomowoc residents, from left, Kevin Havens, Nathan Stoppenbach and Nicole Stoppenbach stand on the roof of the former Olympia Ski Hill and Chalet, which they are transforming into The Social, an entertainment destination. Not pictured are business partners Heather Havens and Matt Neumann.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Nathan Stoppenbach also recognized that there is \u201ca lot of nostalgia with the building.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0
\n Katherine Beck\/Freeman Staff<\/span>
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\n Katherine Beck\/Freeman Staff<\/span>
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