Omro school to become winery

OMRO — When Shane and Laurel Coombs' plans come to fruition, the kindergarten room at the former Enterprise School on Liberty School Road will become the wine-tasting room in their winery. The gymnasium will become the production room.

The Coombses of Warrenville, Ill. bought Omro School District's old Enterprise K-5 school for $100,000, and plan to develop a business that produces wine and mead, a wine made from honey.

"For eight years we've had a second home in Omro and have grown to like the place and the people," Shane Coombs said.

He will turn his wine and mead-making hobby into a business, but it takes time to establish a winery. The crop must be planted and harvested before the wine can be produced. His plan is to produce 2,500 cases within two years, Coombs said.

The sale of Enterprise was finalized Friday. After Realtor fees are deducted, the school district will reap $92,260 from the sale, said Nicholas Curan, superintendent of business operations for Omro.

The Enterprise school was built in 1961 when families representing a number of small country schools in the area came together to form a new district called Enterprise. It housed about 150 students.

Enterprise is situated on a 9.5-acre parcel about five miles west of Omro.

It became part of the Omro School District in 1984.The last year the Omro School District used Enterprise for classrooms was 1999. After that Cooperative Educational Services Agency 6 rented the building for special education classes for seven years.

Enterprise has been idle since 2008. It was costing the district roughly $15,000 annually to maintain the building empty, so members of the Omro Board of Education were pleased to reach a deal with the Coombses, said Board President Peter Kromm.

Kromm felt a personal attachment to Enterprise. He was around when the district acquired the school. His own children attended Enterprise. He described Enterprise as a well-built and well-maintained school. It was important to him that the new use be respectable. A winery would fit the bill, he said.

Wineries are becoming more prevalent in Wisconsin as China buys more wine produced in France and California and as more varieties of grapes that fare well in northern climes are developed for fine table wines, Coombs said.

"I consider myself the southwest leg of a wine tour that includes Ledgestone, Trout Springs and others west of Appleton," Coombs said.

The Coombses intend to grow grapes, apples and cherries at the Enterprise site.

The School Board will discuss how to use the proceeds from the Enterprise sale when it meets at 5:30 p.m. today at Omro Middle School.