Planning has begun for the Fountain Park renovation project.
Fountain Park, in the heart of Sheboygan’s downtown, is an aging public space that has fallen from its former beauty.
Once a hub for social life, it has become aged, and the city is taking action to restore and evolve the park.
At an informational and public input meeting last Wednesday (June 10th), potential plans and concept images were shared with attendees.
Parkitecture and Planning, the company selected to see this project come to fruition, laid out its goals and vision for the park.
Parkitecture is an award-winning landscaping architecture company that was chosen, in large part, due to the work they did recently in Two Rivers at Central Park West.
Some of their objectives in planning are to replace or renovate the weathered fountain, increase park activation, and cater to multiple age groups.
Sheboygan Superintendent of Parks and Forestry Joe Kerlin told those in attendance that the hope is the the project will result in “continued growth in the downtown area, we want to look to the future to provide something attractive for the adults. Young adults, older adults.”
Blake Theisen and John Reynolds of Parkitecture led the discussion and showed attendees three separate mock-ups of what the park could potentially look like.
Each design looked to utilize park space more efficiently but had unique layouts that offered different features.
While all concepts were merely possibilities, some of the most well-received ideas included expanded space for the farmers market, moving and reimagining the centerpiece fountain, as well as water and lighting features to bring a new allure to the park.
Theisen said that Parkitecture will be a part of the process “from inception to completion” and will work to deliver an end product that will be satisfactory to as many Sheboyganites as possible.
As this project is in the early stages, an estimate of costs cannot yet accurately be given.
However, Parkitecture is well-versed in making large developments, such as this, cost-effective.
They will also look to utilize Park Impact Fees and apply for grants to lessen the cost for Sheboygan taxpayers.
The next step for Sheboygan and Parkitecture will be to review their design direction following the public input they received on Wednesday.
After that, they will develop concept images, estimate construction costs, evaluate phasing options, and finally adopt a final concept plan.
Theisen also said panning is scheduled to be done by the end of the calendar year.
No plans are set in stone at this time; however, the future of Fountain Park looks to be bright.
