Convinced the project will bring desperately needed jobs to its ranks, labor groups are unleashing an unprecedented media campaign promoting the proposed $93 million redevelopment of the Edgewater Hotel.

The Hammes Co. wants to restore the original Edgewater, shave two floors off of a 1973 addition for a public terrace, build a grand staircase to the waterfront and erect an eight-story hotel tower. Hammes estimates the project will create about 700 construction jobs.

Labor groups are spending at least $28,000 on TV and radio ads and mailings as the Madison City Council prepares to vote on a proposal by Mayor Dave Cieslewicz to deliver $16 million in public assistance to the Edgewater project in the 2010 budget.

The labor groups have even e-mailed to each council member a two-minute video featuring business, labor and Downtown leaders promoting the project.

The council will consider the city's investment as part of budget deliberations, which start Tuesday.

Interests often lobby the council and committees but rarely, if ever, use the airwaves or mail for a private development, said Ald. Mike Verveer, 4th District, who represents neighborhoods near the Edgewater, 666 Wisconsin Ave.

"It's unprecedented on so many different levels," he said.

The campaign reflects the desperate times in the building industry and isn't financed by or coordinated with Hammes, said Scott Vaughn, director of the Building and Construction Trades Council of South Central Wisconsin.

"We are facing unemployment that is the worst in our lifetime," Vaughn said. "Some of the unions have 30 percent of members unemployed. There is nothing else on the horizon that represents a project like the Edgewater."

Vaughn's organization is spending $13,000 for a video and television ads, while other labor groups are spending about $15,000 through an issue-advocacy organization called Building a Stronger Wisconsin for radio ads and more for the direct mailing of large postcards to addresses on the Isthmus.

"It's crunch time for us," said Tom Fisher, president of the Wisconsin Laborers District Council.

Vaughn said his group is also meeting one-on-one with most council members before budget decisions begin.

The developer "did not provide one cent" to the campaign nor help present it, Vaughn said. "This is completely independent."

Login to post your comment. If you don't have an account, you may register for one.