Gerber Collision proposed for Sheboygan
The $1.7 million auto body shop will be located in Washington Square
SHEBOYGAN — Construction of a new $1.7 million auto body shop on Sheboygan’s south side is expected to begin early this summer.
Gerber Collision is being proposed at Washington Square Shopping Center at South Business Drive and Washington Avenue, across the street from Firestone Complete Auto Care. If plans are approved by the City Plan Commission, construction is expected start in early June and be completed by late October.
The 11,825-square-foot building, which would be visible from Washington Avenue, will allow Gerber Collision to offer major and minor auto-body damage repair along with dent, paint and hail repair. Windshield repair and replacement will also be offered.
Gerber Collision currently has 37 locations in Wisconsin and over 800 nationwide. The City of Sheboygan has five auto body shops including Dean's Auto Body, Caliber Collison, Georgia Avenue Body Shop, Sheboygan Auto and Van Horn.
Land immediately south of Piggly Wiggly has sat vacant ever since the grocery store opened in 2001. Recent additions to Washington Square include Firestone in 2018, Burger King in 2017 and Culver's in 2014.
Once an oil refinery
Gerber Collision will join the Washington Square Shopping Center, land that was previously an oil refinery owned by Conoco. The refinery, the first in Wisconsin when it opened in 1940 by Empire Petroleum, was later used for asphalt production before closing in 1985.
Plans for redeveloping the industrial site into a strip mall were first proposed in 1998. In the original plans for Washington Square in 2000, the shopping center was to include a Burger King on Washington Avenue. However, the restaurant was not built until 2017 at South Business Drive and Wilson Avenue. Goodwill had considered relocating to the strip mall but decided to remain at South Town Mall until 2013 when it relocated to Greenwing Drive.
Conoco Neighborhood
The Conoco Neighborhood, where Washington Square is located, lies within a Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) District, so the City of Sheboygan has a vested interest in seeing new businesses open along South Business Drive. Gerber Collision will be the newest business to the south side neighborhood. In 2023, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen opened a 2,604-square-foot restaurant. Earlier this year, Basudev Adhikari of Kohler proposed building a new gas station and Indian restaurant next to Popeyes. The City Plan Commission approved those plans.
Follow WKTS News on Facebook and X for the latest local news.