The Downtown Fond du Lac Partnership, Inc. highlighted its accomplishments from 2025 and recognized several community award winners during its annual meeting March 5.
Downtown Fond du Lac continued to see strong momentum in 2025, with 20 new businesses opening during the year. The DFP also awarded 17 grants to support building improvements such as security upgrades, creative signage, and experience grants designed to help businesses attract customers.
Since Fond du Lac became a Wisconsin Main Street Community in 2004, downtown has seen more than $180 million in private investment. During that time, the Building Improvement Grant program has been awarded 250 times, providing $1.5 million in assistance toward exterior property renovations and leveraging $9.4 million in private investment.
In 2025, the DFP commissioned “The Art Lot,” an outdoor gallery featuring 11 murals inspired by Fond du Lac themes, adding a new public art destination to downtown.
During the meeting, several annual awards were presented to recognize businesses and individuals who have made significant contributions to the downtown district.
- The Best New Business Award was presented to La Belle FDL, owned by Claudia Hawkins Moise.
- The Design of the Year Award was presented to Fond du Lac Beer Company, owned by Mike Leb.
- The Downtown Legacy Award was presented to ADVOCAP.
- The Friend of Downtown Award was presented to Dyann Benson, who served for 15 years as the city of Fond du Lac’s Community Development Director.
- The Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to Dave Buechel.
The complete 2025 Downtown Fond du Lac Partnership Annual Report is available at downtownfdl.com
