BY LEE REINSCH
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
DE PERE — Members of the De Pere Board of Park Commissioners approved a preliminary design for the update of the city’s oldest park.
After its makeover, Wilson Park, located on the west side at the corner of Fourth Street and College Avenue, will be a haven for families and students that will capitalize on foliage and quiet activities.
The passive-concept park will feature a winding crushed-gravel path leading past a memorial tree and a water feature to the historic bronze Gettysburg Address plaque.
The plaque will be moved from the north edge of the park to a place of heightened prominence.
“Right now, it’s very easy to walk by it without noticing it,” De Pere Park Commissioner Ryan Jennings said.
A hammock grove, featuring stands for visitors to pitch their own hammocks, was especially well received.
Wilson Park is a 0.51 acre minipark designed to serve people within walking distance of it.
It’s the site of the former First Ward School, as listed on an 1889 plat map.
The school moved, and in 1924, the City purchased the land from the school district for use as a park.
It currently has two rusting swing sets, about three dozen trees and the two memorials.
One is a weeping crabapple tree planted in honor of St. Norbert College student Jessica Martin, who died suddenly in 2004, and a 107-year-old concrete-and-bronze Gettysburg Address plaque.
The late U.S. Representative and member of the De Pere Board of Education, James Hughes Jr. (1883-1940), donated the plaque in 1916, and it was positioned to face the school that once stood there.
The park is surrounded on three sides by property owned by St. Norbert College.
Other amenities the new design will feature include benches, tree-mounted lighting known as moon lighting and knolls designed to be inviting to sit on.
De Pere Alder Amy Chandik Kundinger suggested the design include tables, in addition to benches, so students might bring their laptops and school work.
The board rejected a more active-concept park featuring a playground and sport court.
Westside De Pere resident Joe Nicks, one of those who brought the neglected state of Wilson Park to the attention of the City in 2021, spoke in favor of the passive-concept choice.
He said De Pere needs a greenery-based park, as most parks in De Pere are dominated by activity hubs such as playgrounds, pools or ball fields.
He said in 1924, the city created another green park — Dodge Park — near the intersection of Third and Fourth streets, in what was then almost the outskirts of town.
Dodge Park existed for 16 years, until 1940 when a new park board sold it to an oil company for $300 to erect a gas station.
“I hope we don’t go that route,” Nicks said.
He also spoke strongly in favor of preserving the plaque, which he called a “museum-quality piece”.
“This is a tremendous asset to Wilson Park,” he said.
He urged the board to preserve and spotlight it or donate it to someone who will treat it with the kind of respect it deserves.
The original GRAEF designs didn’t include moving or highlighting the plaque, but a future rendition will.
Chandik Kundinger also spoke in favor of the passive-concept design, stating that not every park needs to have a playground.
She added that those resources could be better used elsewhere.
The land in the park will be re-graded and a mulberry and two buckthorn trees will be removed, along with a leaning chain link fence and the old swing sets.
The upgrades are estimated to cost between $125,000 and $200,000.