The Derleth House, built in 1853 by the grandparents of Wisconsin writer August Derleth, was saved by last week's vote. (Don Aucutt)

A Wisconsin town said no last week to a developer's plan to tear down seven houses in a historic neighborhood to make way for a Walgreens.

At an Oct. 25 meeting, after many residents of Sauk City spoke out against the new store, the village planning commission and board of trustees voted against Madison-based Flad Development & Investment Corp.'s re-zoning request.

"I was very pleased with the outcome," says Rose White, a member of the board of trustees, which voted 6-1 against re-zoning the area from residential to commercial. "When the village found out exactly what was going on, they came out en masse to oppose it. To put a Walgreens in a historic part of Sauk City just seemed totally inappropriate."

Located 25 miles northwest of Madison, Sauk City, founded 151 years ago, is the oldest incorporated village in the state. Flad Development targeted a site that contained seven houses, including the limestone Derleth House, built in 1853 by the family of local writer August Derleth.

"There was no question that they would knock everything down and build a store and parking lot," says Bill Stehling, a member of both the planning commission and the board of trustees. "The majority of the people [who spoke at the meeting] said they're not against Walgreens, but they didn't want their neighborhood destroyed."

Now Sauk City is taking steps to further protect its historic sites. "We're going to establish a historic district and establish a landmark registry of the important homes in our area, so we'll have some say in what happens," Stehling says. He says that will happen in the next few months.

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