Jeff Mirkes, Executive Director of Downtown Green Bay Inc., explains how the town’s waterfront City Deck redeveloped riverfront attracted an influx of new business ventures and urban dwellers into the heart of downtown.
![Jeff Mirkes, Executive Director Downtown Green Bay Inc.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2a2744b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2160x2886+0+0/resize/880x1176!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fkcbx%2Ffiles%2F201707%2Fjeff_mirkes.jpg)
Not too long ago downtown Green Bay, Wisconsin’s downtown fronted on a blighted, industrial riverfront—that was not people friendly.
![John Pagel at Cannery Public Market, Green Bay Wisconsin](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/da5aaaa/2147483647/strip/true/crop/500x500+0+0/resize/880x880!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fkcbx%2Ffiles%2F201707%2FJohn-potrait.png)
John Pagel and his family repurposed a circa-1917 Green Bay vegetable cannery that’s now the home of the bustling Cannery Public Market.
Highlights include a deli with loads of regionally sourced fresh produce, a meat market and 80-seat restaurant.
The family has operated Pagel’s Ponderosa Dairy in nearby Kewaunee, Wisconsin, one of Wisconsin’s largest family run dairies, for 70 years.
The Pagel family also runs Ron’s Wisconsin Cheese Company in Luxemburg, and Dairy Dreams in Casco, Wisconsin.
![Cannery Public Market Hayloft restaurant space](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ef4de04/2147483647/strip/true/crop/500x500+0+0/resize/880x880!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fkcbx%2Ffiles%2F201707%2FHayloft3.jpg)
![Restored Meyer Theater downtown Green Bay Wisconsin](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6859721/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2585x3877+0+0/resize/880x1320!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fkcbx%2Ffiles%2F201707%2Fmeyer_theater_interior.jpg)
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