You can show your support for the Potawatomi State Park observation tower at a public hearing in Madison on Wednesday.

The Assembly Committee on Tourism is scheduled to meet to discuss a pair of bills including one that would allocate up to $750,000 in funds from the American Rescue Plan to make the necessary repairs to the aging structure that was closed to the public in 2017. Dr. Dan Tingley of Wood Research and Development recently did an engineering study, discovering that the tower’s main supports and the majority of its components could be saved. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Secretary Preston Cole told Rep. Joel Kitchens and Senator Andre Jacque in May that the agency was no longer looking at demolishing the structure but looking to save it. Rep. Kitchens explained why the structure was worth saving when he sent out a memo looking for sponsors for Assembly Bill 567 back in September.

Representatives Cindi Duchow, Dave Murphy, Todd Novak, William Penterman, and David Steffen, and Senators Robert Cowles have joined Kitchens and Jacque in sponsoring the bill. The public hearing is scheduled to take place on Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the Wisconsin State Capitol building in Room 415 Northwest.