The Oshkosh Northwestern sign with cobwebs dangling. June 12, 2025. PC: Fox 11 Online
OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Newspapers and their elegant homes are quickly becoming a relic of a former time, in need of new life.
The Oshkosh Northwestern erected its building at 224 State Street in 1930, and was sold to Michigan-based ProVisions. Oshkosh native and billionaire T.J. Rodgers purchased the building in 2021, which is now managed by Team SNW.
It’s a stunning piece of renaissance architecture that will soon become a hotel, Italian restaurant, Italian grocery store, salon, barbershop, tailor, candy store, coffee shop, women’s retail store and jewelry store.
Developers hope the hotel is ready in time for EAA AirVenture 2026.
The restaurant, called The Truffle Pig, is slated to open in August 2025 — the first piece of the new hotel to open. Executive Chef Cristiano Bassani — who was born and raised in Bergamo, Italy — arrives in Oshkosh after serving as an executive chef in Chicago, where he worked for 28 years.
“It’s going to be a beautiful restaurant,” said Bassani. “It’s strictly Italian food. We’re going to make our own pasta. We’re going to make our own desserts, fresh focaccia bread every day.”
It will be a top-tier restaurant in the century-old building.
“To tear it down and build something new, it’s hard when you have something like this,” said Kelsie Lally, lead designer of the Oshkosh Northwestern building project. “If you were trying to replicate this, you couldn’t.”
The former Appleton Post-Crescent building is now Crescent Lofts, a 34-unit apartment complex. The old Green Bay Press-Gazette building, now owned by the city, is empty, with plans to convert it into offices for the police department.
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