Imagine a relaxing winter wellness outing — sweating in wood-fired barrel saunas, dipping in and out of cold plunges, relaxing by fire pits complemented by soft lighting, movement classes and soothing music provided by local musicians.
Now imagine that outing at Wauwatosa's Hart Park.
That is the vision proposed by local startup business Heat Haven. It is seeking to rent outdoor space next to the park's senior center for a new attraction called Heat Haven Sauna Park just steps from Tosa Village and at the center of the city's primary recreational hub.
Heat Haven would operate the saunas at Hart Park through the coldest six months of the year to help Tosa "brand itself as a winter wellness destination," according to the written proposal. "Our mission is to create spaces where people can prioritize health, connection, and restoration through authentic sauna culture set in the beauty of the outdoors."
Such an attraction would be something completely different for Hart Park, nestled among the senior center, football stadium, tennis courts and pedestrian trails. The proposal will be discussed at the next meeting of the Board of Parks and Forestry Commissioners at 8 a.m. Oct. 21 on Zoom.
"We think it would be a really wonderful experience to bring to the Wauwatosa area," Jesse Hieb, co-owner of Heat Haven, said in a phone interview with Tosa Forward News.
Hieb and his business partner, Ryan Bingham, are Wisconsin natives who have experienced public saunas while living and traveling around the United States and abroad and want to bring the trend back to their home state. Hieb, who moved back to Wisconsin last year and now lives in Muskego, said he sees saunas as a great way to make it through the state's cold winters.
"I'm a little bit slower pace of guy," Hieb said. "I always like to make time to heal, focus on my mental health and just take time to refresh.
Hieb and Bingham, who lives in Milwaukee, looked around the region and couldn't find the kind of public saunas they had found so soothing elsewhere. Indoor saunas at the gym aren't quite the same, Hieb said.
They launched their Heat Haven business to introduce local residents to what they describe in their proposal as "one of the fastest-growing global wellness trends." They have invested in portable sauna facilities that they have begun setting up around the region as short-term pop-up installations, and they envision a semi-permanent public sauna park in Wauwatosa as an "attraction that strengthens winter tourism and diversifies what the city offers."
The proposal suggests locating the sauna facilities on the small patch of lawn south of Hart Park's Muellner Building, where the senior center and curling club are located. Heat Haven proposes operating two or three of its barrel-shaped saunas in the first year and expanding to four to six units as demand grows.
Heat Haven proposes operating the saunas from mid-November through April, renting the space from the city at $1,050 a month, possibly as early as this fall and winter. The saunas would be open every day except Mondays, with a mix of morning, afternoon and evening hours, and customers would have access to restrooms in the Muellner Building
Heat Haven also would rent space in the Muellner Building's Garden Room to host three or four "Movement + Sauna" classes a week. Participants would rotate between saunas, cold plunges and sessions of indoor fitness, such as yoga or pilates.
The movement classes would be a longer experience, spanning nearly three hours, for $30 to $40, according to the proposal. Individual community sauna sessions would be shorter, at about 75 minutes, and cost $20 to $30. The pricing structure is intended to encourage repeat visits.
"Our goal is to try to create a space where people can feel like they can come on a regular basis," Hieb said.
Hieb and Bingham also envision incorporating a shipping container into the business' footprint, to serve as an operations center and a concessions counter run through a partnership with Pour Inc.
The partners initially looked at numerous park locations around Milwaukee County and settled on proposing the saunas Hart Park after conversations with Wauwatosa parks and tourism officials.
Tosa Forward News sought comment from city officials about the proposal and will update this story upon receiving responses.
