PC: Fox 11 Online
DENMARK, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The growing community of Denmark will soon see major changes to the village’s parks.
“If we want to attract new businesses, new families, having a vibrant park system is part of the attraction,” says Susan Selner, the village’s president.
Over the last two years, Selner and other village leaders have surveyed the community and created a comprehensive plan for three parks.
The park that will see the most changes is the War Memorial Park.
“We had a beautiful site, but it really wasn’t very well put together,” Selner says. “Of course, trying to accommodate people, we would put things where they fit, which didn’t always make for a cohesive plan.”
Selner says the two relatively new baseball and softball diamonds will be untouched, but almost everything around them will be enhanced.
The kiddie pool will be transformed into a splashpad, which means it will no longer require a lifeguard. No lifeguard means it will be able to be open for longer hours and earlier and later in the year.
The old playground next to the kiddie pool will become an ADA-inclusive play area.
“We’re hoping this area here, where the [kiddie] pool is, and eliminating this giant safety hazard of a road will begin next year,” says Brandon Ackley, a village trustee.
The road Ackley is talking about is Park Street, which travels around the first baseball diamond, and next to the playground and basketball court.
“There are some substantial issues here, I mean, theres safety issues with having a roadway directly next toa playground and theres not much for all accessibilities in this park at all and we really need to get that up so every member in our community can actually come and enjoy the park, have something new to play on,” Ackley adds.
A new concession stand will be erected between the two ball diamonds, and the basketball court will be moved to create more green space, something highly requested by community members. The basketball court will move to the area behind City Hall.
“We’re adding a green space, so if we wanted to do any events, and that’s going to tie in with the new concession stand as well as an area for portable staging if someone wants to do any kind of major event there,” Selner says.
The hope is to also eventually create a more robust war memorial for area vets, with a walkway that connects to the rest of the park.
“We have the footprint, we have the space to do it, we should have something that we can be really proud of and that families can utilize every day of the week,” Ackley adds.
The next park upgrade is at Denmark’s Highridge Park.
In the green space next to the baseball diamond will be six brand new pickleball courts, one of the most highly requested amenities by Denmark residents, and a new playground. There will also be space for native plants and grasses.
And lastly, an unused space near downtown, where the Devil’s River State Trail begins, will become the area’s newest park: Denmark Square.
“Developing that Denmark square, we really want to encourage having a vibrant downtown, and that is in the downtown area, we’d like to see it be active, have community events and bring people to the businesses that are downtown,” Selner says.
The new park will feature a small amphitheater, game areas for kids and adults, a walking trail, and plenty of green space.
The undeveloped space was used for Denmark’s first annual tree lighting in December
“It was a huge success, it was like 16 degrees and blustering cold, and had well over 300 people show up,” says Ackley, who says that’s how the idea for the park was born in the first place.
Leaders hope Denmark Square will be a gathering space for more community events and for local groups to meet.
“So, we had space, we just didn’t have it well organized and well developed,” Selner says about Denmark’s parks. “We hadn’t given [them] attention in several years, and now is the time to start addressing it.”
Another major piece to the village’s park renovations is a local trail revitalization and expansion. That could very well be the first piece of the puzzle that gets completed, thanks to the local Boy Scout troop volunteering to help clear the trails.
A cohesive trail system was also another top request from residents, according to Selner.
With a major park system overhaul such as this, a high price tag is highly likely. Developers and planners are expected to present a total cost to the village in the coming weeks.
Selner says the village is already applying for as many grants and funding supplements as possible.
Once they understand the scope of the cost, they can begin to build out a project phasing plan.
Renderings and map layouts of the improved parks and the new park are viewable to residents inside City Hall.
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