Town of Trempealeau developing park near Centerville

Thanks to a land donation — with some strings attached to ensure progress — the town of Trempealeau is in the early stages of developing a new community park.

The area in question is located near the intersection of Highway 93 and Highway 35 on a parcel of land located behind the Trempealeau Town Hall.

The potential for a park at the site was started roughly two years ago when Town Supervisor Ted Konkel approached Ray Weltzien, who owns the farmland behind the town hall, about the possibility of developing that area into something for the community.

Weltzien agreed with Konkel’s thought and the wheels were officially put in motion to have Weltzien donate 7.5 acres of land to the town for the development of what is to be known as Well Scene Centerpark.

The idea is to create a park that is simplistic in nature but provides a community space in a well-traveled area where there isn’t one currently.

“We’ve never really had somewhere where, say somebody fuels up their camper at Toad’s Cove, there’s no real place to just get out and walk around,” said Trempealeau Town Chairman Ryan Hilton. “I’ve reiterated to the engineers that I’ve talked to that we need to come up with something that’s simple, has some curb appeal, hopefully low maintenance.

“This is just something where a normal person can go and feel at home.”

Hilton noted that Weltzien has repeatedly insisted on community involvement in deciding what will go into the park. Potential options for park amenities include volleyball courts, a T-ball/kickball field, an all-abilities playground with room for future expansion, an open-sided pavilion, a potential walking path that would help establish the property line and green space. Hilton also mentioned the possibility of putting in something to recognize first responders and veterans.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has authorized a town road to go in to access the park off Highway 93 on the northwest portion of the property. While Hilton said Weltzien would likely get naming rights for that road, the latter said he’d prefer to allow local kids to get the chance to name it.

Another priority suggested by Konkel was to establish a buffer/water retention area near the town hall building’s northeast corner to protect the building and the neighboring homes along with their grain bin setup.

Weltzien requested access for snowmobile traffic downtown — something Hilton noted has been done in the past — and said that, depending on the future of the land, the town might get access to the existing well on Weltzien’s side of the property line for park irrigation purposes or as an additional fire department fill site.

However, the land donation does come with an important caveat: the town must achieve 30% usability within one year of the special deed’s recording date, or else the land can revert back to Weltzien.

“At the one-year mark of the special recording of the deed, we are going to meet with (Weltzien) and we’re going to agree if we hit the 30% clause or not,” Hilton said. “And that’s in no way to shame him. He felt he needed to put a little bite into it because, as you know, projects in other places, there’s no timeline. Stuff grows up in weeds and he says, ‘I don’t want to look like the bad guy for giving you something and then there’s nothing done.’ So, he put a little teeth into it.”

The town is working with engineers to get a bird’s-eye view blueprint of the park drawn up, which would allow them to start applying for grants. Potential grant options include T-Mobile’s rural grant program that provides up to $50,000, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ Knowles-Nelson Stewardship grants program.

These are still just the very early stages of trying to turn this idea into a reality, but the town has reached out to local organizations to see if any are interested in providing a helping hand with the park and the ball is now fully rolling.

“I mentioned that as a kid I attended the Centerville Fall Festival on the grounds of the old curling club and the old town hall, which sat where Citizens First Bank now sits,” Hilton said. “In my opinion, bringing something like that back would benefit the community. Ray has continually said that without people, there is no community. I strongly feel we are doing a great thing for the community — residents, businesses, tourists and those just driving through.”