ND Paper files application to raze Biron's historic 'white house'
BIRON – It has stood near the Wisconsin River for more than 150 years and was once known as the "center of Biron-area society," but workers soon will tear down the white house that stands on ND Paper property.
On Aug. 15, ND Paper filed an application with the village of Biron to raze the white house that had at one point been used as an office building for the mill. The application states the company will demolish the house, fill in the hole, level the area and plant grass. As of Friday, the village had not yet issued the permit.
The fate of the white house has been up in the air for more than eight months. In late 2021, Caleb Coder, Biron mill general manager, sent a letter to Biron Village President Jon Evenson; Phil Brown, president of the South Wood County Historical Museum; the Mead Witter Foundation; and Historic Point Basse in late 2021, and offered to sell the historic building to any of the organizations for $1 if they would move the house to a new location.
The Dec. 31 deadline for the project came and went without anyone submitting a plan for removing the house. Some people expressed interest and mill management waited several months beyond the deadline to be sure no one would take on the project.
A Dec 15, 1934, newspaper article called the house, "massive without being ostentatious." It's the home's size that may have added to its fate.
Moving the house would be a monumental task, Evenson said in December. It also is uncertain whether the 150-year-old building could survive being removed from its foundation and transported to a new location.
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The company is "very" sad that they have to tear down the house, Brian Boland, ND Paper vice president of strategy and communication, told a Daily Tribune reporter Friday.
"We didn't have anybody come forward that was willing to do it," Boland said.
ND Paper has to consider its resources and put its money toward keeping the mill operating efficiently, Boland said. It's important the mill continues to operate in the long term, he said.
The house is close to the inside of the gate going into the mill and very close to the building, Boland said. It's in a construction area.
The company previously said it could no longer be responsible for maintaining the home and potential liability issues connected to it.
Francis Biron Sr. built the white house in 1865, according to Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune archives. The house covered 3,300 square feet of ground and was made of "the best hand-selected lumber."
Boland said no one has approached ND Paper and asked to remove any historically significant pieces of the home. He said if someone qualified, with proper insurance, were to contact the company, they would consider having someone salvage pieces of the property, but time is running out.
The company hopes to remove the house by mid-September, according to the razing application.
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Contact Karen Madden at 715-345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KMadden715, Instagram at @kmadden715 or Facebook at facebook.com/karen.madden.33.
This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: ND Paper files application to raze Biron's historic 'white house'
