Photo of Plamann Park. Nov. 6, 2025. PC: Fox 11 Online
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Plamann Park will receive $20 million from Outagamie County taxpayers to finish upgrades — the last major part of a plan that began seven years ago.
The county will build a new multi-purpose building near the park’s lake featuring new offices for its parks department, new changing rooms (the current lake doesn’t have changing rooms), a new community space for events and possibly even a new gift shop and restaurant.
The lake served about 80,000 visitors and brought in $147,000 in revenue this past year.
“We went through our equipment list, we went through our future programming plans and we developed an office and maintenance building that would accommodate that,” said Outagamie County Parks Director Justin Schumacher. “And then we looked at other investments we were going to have to make in the future. And one that stood out was this lake bathhouse without the changing rooms… We talked about. Well, if we put a public space in between, we’re already going to make this large investment. What can we do to maximize the use and the value for the public?”
The county board debated whether to cut back funding at last week’s budget meeting.
“Would they be mad at you that Plamann Park didn’t get their extra, whatever we have to cut for this?” posed District 24 Supervisor Steve Thiede.
The board eventually passed the entire budget, which included the provision for funds to Plamann Park.
“The more we can get people in Plamann Park and generate a revenue stream to help improve the parks,” said District 18 Supervisor Cathy Spears, voicing support.
The new building would replace the current outdated office building and provide some needed maintenance space.
The Hillside Event Center, an ADA-accessible football field and paved trails are all completed as part of the plan. The county allocated about $9 million for those in previous years, with some extra added costs for other smaller projects, according to county budget records.
Construction on the multi-purpose building could begin as soon as late-summer in 2026. The county will bond to cover the costs — $13.2 million of which is new money, according to Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson.
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