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Sugar Creek Park

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The base around existing equipment will be made more resilient to flooding. (Photo submitted)

This is a rendering of what the new piece of park equipment will look like as well as the green base around it.

The Walmart Foundation gave a grant for $1,500 Tuesday morning to the Sugar Creek Park Project in Ferryville. In the front row are Walmart Assistant Manager Katie Fitzwater, Theresa Yaeger of the Ferryville Vision and Promotion Board, Walmart Department Manager Heidi Stoddard, Ferryville Playground Committee Co-Chair Sherry Quamme, Marsha Stross of the Ferryville Vision and Promotion Board and Ferryville Playground Committee Co-Chair Joanne White. Several Walmart associates are in the background. (Photo by Ted Pennekamp)

 

Ferryville working to make Sugar Creek Park more flood resistant, adding equipment

By Ted Pennekamp

 

Walmart of Prairie du Chien is the most recent financial contributor to the Sugar Creek Park Project near Ferryville. Walmart personnel, along with members of the Ferryville Vision and Promotion Board, gathered at Walmart Tuesday morning to present a check for $1,500 to go toward the project.

Ferryville Playground Project Co-Chair Sherry Quamme said the Walmart Foundation donation brings the total to approximately $18,500 raised for the project. The cost of the project is anticipated to be from $55,000 to $74,000, she said.

The project began on May 1, 2017. Private donations have raised $12,255. There have also been several fundraisers, including soup and salad suppers, a brat fry, a 2017 quilt raffle, the 2017 Rummage Along the River, a paint party and birdhouse sales. The Walmart Foundation grant was for $1,500 and the Crawford County Community Fund donated $1,500.

Quamme said the Sugar Creek Park is a well-loved and much-used public park located directly on Highway 35, the Great River Road National Scenic Byway. It welcomes local residents and visitors to the area three seasons each year. The park is used for family reunions, families who live in the region and bring their children to play, as well as visitors who stop by to stretch their legs while traveling the Great River Road.

Sugar Creek Park is also used each Saturday, May through October, by the Ferryville Farmers Market and supports the vendors, shoppers and local businesses. It has two shelters, with at least one reserved for use every weekend of the summer and fall.

The park is also a campground, one of two original campgrounds created in the 1930s on Highway 35 and the Mississippi River.

The 75-year-old park also offers opportunities for local residents and travelers to picnic, train watch, bird watch and fish.

Quamme said the park experienced severe flooding over the last several years and the playground equipment needs updating along with a new base that can tolerate occasional flooding.

“This project will make the park more resilient to flooding,” said Quamme. “There will be new bases installed around all of the existing playground equipment that will be either wood chips with a barrier or a base made up of ground up tires so that the areas around the equipment don’t wash away or get damaged.”

Quamme also said that a new piece of playground equipment will be installed which features several activities in one for the youngsters to enjoy. The new piece of equipment will be surrounded by a base of green, soft, yet firm material that is flood resistant and safe for children.

“The park will be handicapped accessible and the equipment is for children of all abilities,” Quamme said.

Fundraising efforts are continuing and grants have been submitted or are in process to foundations, organizations and governmental agencies that support programs benefiting children, noted Quamme.

“Connection with businesses and individuals who focus on making our communities better and help to create an environment that promotes play and healthy activities for children is part of the overall fundraising plan,” she said.

Although Ferryville is small with just 181 residents, community assets include Sugar Creek Park, River View Park, the Patrick Lucey historical marker, Sugar Creek Bluff Natural Area, story boards commemorating the 1940 Armistice Day storm and a public boat launch.

Public parks along the length of the entire Mississippi River from Wisconsin to Louisiana are encouraged by the U.S. Corps of Engineers to construct flood resilient public use areas and this playground plan is just that, Quamme said. Advisors include people familiar with the periodic wet conditions and who know what types of construction work is best for this kind of project.

The timeline for the project includes restoring the base around the existing play structure in 2018. The goal is for the fundraising to be completed in 2019 so that the new play structure can be purchased and installed, including the base.

The flood of Sept. 21, 2016, washed away all of the sand base around the existing play structure, leaving dirt and clay around the structure. A new base will be installed in June of 2018 to restore the play surface so this structure will work well with the planned new play equipment when that is installed in 2019, explained Quamme.

The playground equipment will be installed on a 5-inch concrete base covered with “poured in place” surfacing to secure the structure. The state-of-the-art base will stabilize the playground.

Community volunteers will be active participants in the installation of the playground, Quamme noted.

Over the years, the Ferryville Vision and Promotions Board have successfully raised funds focused on enhancing the community. Recent efforts include: lighted snowflakes along Main Street during the holidays, Ferryville “A place for all seasons” banners along Main Street, several Sugar Creek Park improvements such as benches, flower gardens, a patio area with a picnic table, and a mural on the side of the park garage depicting the area. In addition, Riverview Park in the village center was constructed and is an observation area for viewing the river, waterfowl migration and trains.

The new base and the new Sugar Creek Park equipment is quite an undertaking, but members of the Ferryville Playground Committee are undaunted.

“Yes, this seems like a huge task for a small village to take on,” said Quamme. “However, if not us, who will?”

Donations can be made by contacting Sherry Quamme, playground committee co-chair, at (920) 210-4560 or squamme@centurytel.net.

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