WAUPUN — The City of Fox Lake held a groundbreaking ceremony Friday afternoon signaling the start of their Clausen Park renovation project starting this May.
Clausen Park is on the north side of the City of Fox Lake at 203 N College Avenue, with public lake access and various amenities including docks, a playground, shelters, and restrooms. The renovation project will include an expanded playground, new fishing piers, a new ADA kayak launch, expanded sidewalks, renovated launch piers, expanded parking, and a new restroom building on the west side of the park.
The groundbreaking ceremony was held at City Hall and had several hundred attendees, including students from SAGES, St John’s, and Rock River Intermediate.
They heard from several members of the community who were involved in the project, including City staff, committee members, members of the State Legislature, and Governor Tony Evers. They also heard from a number of local students who spoke on the importance of public parks and how the renovations will help Fox Lake.
Becky Bussian, who is one of the leading members of the Friends of Clausen Park Committee, spoke about their journey in getting to this point, including fundraisers, grants, and other means of community support. Previously Bussian spearheaded the Crocker Street Park renovations in 2019, and when the City of Fox Lake decided to renovate Clausen Park they approached Bussian to help on the project.
Because of the hard work of the Committee and City staff, Fox Lake was able to be the recipient of the Wisconsin DNR’s Knowles-Nelson Stewardship program, providing about $315,000 for the renovation of Clausen Park from the State of Wisconsin.
The Beaver Dam Area Community Foundation and Ergo Bank also provided backing for the renovations.
The entire ceremony went for about 30 minutes and snacks were available following the ceremony. The full list of speakers included:
Kelly Crombie — City of Fox Lake City Administrator
Tom Bednarek — Mayor, City of Fox Lake
Dennis Linke — Council President, City of Fox Lake
Sarah Theander — Chair Clausen Park AD HOC Committee
Becky Bussian — Friends of Clausen Park
Riley Teachout — Student
Ameillia — Student: SAGES
Maleya — Student SAGE
Student — St. John’s School
Kyle Witt — President of ERGO Bank, Representative of Fox Lake Business Community and Chamber
Tom Heffron — Beaver Dam Area Foundation
Mike Tegtmeyer — President Fox Lake Preservation Organization
Chris Vandenbush — Advance Construction
Jeff Thelen — MSA Engineers
State Representative Mark Born — Wisconsin State Legislature
State Senator John Jagler — Wisconsin State Legislature
State Senator Joan Ballweg — Wisconsin State Legislature
Jim Ritche — Bureau Director of DNR
Tony Evers — Governor of Wisconsin
Photos of the ceremony taken by Tanya Witthun can be found here: https://tanyawitthun.smugmug.com/Clausen-Park-Groundbreaking-Ceremony
