2-11-20 fdl park watch in opposition to business leaders’ plan for lakeside park

The Fond du Lac group Park Watch is voicing strong opposition to a business leaders plan to develop a portion of Lakeside Park.  Under the plan Oven Island would essentially be converted into an amphitheater, ice rink and parking lot and the lighthouse peninsula would be transformed into a restaurant and history museum.  Laura DeGolier with Park Watch says people are not asking for the park to be paved over.    “For many, many people in Fond du lac this is the only green place they have to go.  It’s free, they can enjoy the out of doors.  To lose the trees and to lose the flowers that are put around the lighthouse, all of those things,  would be a detriment to the things people have enjoyed in that park for years and years,”  DeGolier told WFDL news.   Responding to the business leaders who say the improvements would allow more people to enjoy the space.  “The question of enjoyment is how you define that.  The people who go there now enjoy it for the greenspace, peace,  and the quiet they get to enjoy out there.  Some of them just like to ride through.   They go out there to eat lunch,  bird watching.   Their (business leaders) version of enjoyment is commercial.”    DeGolier says she is also concerned about how the loss of greenspace and erection of new buildings and expanding parking would negatively impact birds and other wildlife in the park.  “Anytime you pave something over you take away any place for wildlife to  hide or get food or exist,”  DeGolier said.  “The (wildlife) artist Rockne Knuth, who was from Fond du lac, said every time they cut a tree down in Lakeside Park they diminish the number of birds that can be seen at the park.”    DeGolier says she also doesn’t like the fact that the group is coming in at the last minute without any public collaboration on what would be a drastic change to a public park.   “They’ve left this impression, very definately, that we either accept what they have proposed in a short period of time, no vetting, no marketing, no soil borings, we accept it as they have proposed,  or they are going to take their money away.   I’m really sorry they are not willing to be more collaborative and work together with the citizens of Fond du Lac.”   The Fond du Lac city council considers the business leaders plan at their meeting Wednesday evening.

Related Posts

Loading...