WISCONSIN RAPIDS, WI (WSAU) — It may be cold and snowy these days, but Wisconsin Rapids Mayor Shane Blaser had parks on his mind last week.
The city’s parks commission has finally settled on an official name for the complex around Witter Park, home of the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters baseball club and other amenities such as pickleball courts, a skate park, and the city’s new aquatics center.
The entire area now falls under the umbrella of Witter Park. Blaser says the name was the overwhelming favorite among those surveyed and the Commissioners. “Witter Park has become the name of the whole area. We will have the Aquatics Complex at Witter Park and every other amenity out there that they can build a brand around.”
City leaders had been considering a formal name for the facility dating back to mid-2021 as the area continued to grow from a baseball part to a skate park and aquatics facility. It’s also used in the winter with a community skating rink and areas for low-board hockey.
Blaser says they are also getting serious about a new dog park, something the city has been without for more than two years after the landowners of their previous park decided to cancel the lease with the city. He says they have a site selected that could work, but it does require some tree removal and branch cleanup following last December’s Derecho. Despite that, they are looking to start developing the concept of the park.
“We will have a bunch of tree removal, but then it’s figuring out a parking area and a fenced-in area. [The land] is also divided by a ditch, and on the other side of that could be a small dog park,” said Blaser.
He says he’d also like to see the city do the work and take ownership of the park, but he’s also willing to listen to citizen groups on what they’d like to see done in it. “We will take care of the maintenance responsibility and the day-to-day operations, but should a user group have an interest in adding an ammenity and fundraising for that, that’s something we could support.”
Other topics Blaser discussed with WSAU’s Mike Leischner include:
Start of video- winter road maintenance update
4:00- Parks updates
14:30- Possible tweaks to the city budget process
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