Mosque organizers come back for more changes to building

Remodeling of a building at Jos. Campau and Caniff to turn it into a mosque has been slow over the past four years. File Photo

By Charles Sercombe
It’s been four years since a plan was OK’d to remodel a building at Jos. Campau and Caniff into a mosque.
Since that time there has been little progress, with just the inside gutted and redesigned and modest modifications made to the outside.
Along the way, in 2015, a former city building official mistakenly gave permission for a change to the outside.
And then recently, mosque organizers attempted to make more changes, this time without city permission.
That’s when current Building Official Jack Williams put his foot down and placed a stop-work order on the building.
The mosque recently received permission for more changes at the building, located at the southwest corner of Campau and Caniff. It is not known how much longer it will take to complete renovations.
But the delay and record of changes being made without prior city approval caused Mayor Karen Majewski to lash out at a recent Plan Commission meeting.
She said the reason the city put a stop to renovations at the mosque is because agreed upon “boundaries were pushed and specifications ignored.”
“Then it’s up to us to catch them and create more publicity.”
This stop and go, she stressed, ends up costing the mosque more money, and forces the city to “discipline” the mosque as well.
“It’s not fair to us to be the bad guys,” Majewski said.
Ultimately, Majewski said, the city and mosque organizers need to “honor each other.”
There was initial resistance to allowing a mosque to locate at that site because it is in the heart of the city’s main business district. It is also on the same block where two other Islamic centers are located.
There will now be an addition constructed in between the two others at the end of the block. That plan was also recently permitted by the Plan Commission and city council.