Plan for Arrowhead Park in Neenah shows amphitheater, rooftop restaurant, sculpture garden
NEENAH — A new master plan for the development of Neenah's Arrowhead Park calls for an amphitheater with a recreation lawn, a destination building with a rooftop restaurant overlooking Little Lake Butte des Morts and a community building near the park entrance off Millview Drive.
The plan further shows a celebration lawn, a sculpture garden and a pedestrian and bicycle overpass near Gateway Plaza to link the park to the downtown business district.
"We want to leverage opportunity, create a destination for not only Neenah but the surrounding area (and) really celebrate the water," Mike Bell, a landscape architect with RDG Planning & Design, told the Parks and Recreation Commission.
Cost estimates for the improvements still are being developed by RDG and will be provided at a later date. The city will seek grants and partners in the private sector to assist with the development.
Neenah hired RDG for $45,000 to create a master plan for Arrowhead Park that capitalizes on the waterfront and improves the park's connection to the downtown district. The 31-acre park has been the subject of at least four previous plans, including one completed in 2017 by the consulting firm Short Elliott Hendrickson of Appleton for $45,525.
"It's an exciting refresh," Parks and Recreation Director Mike Kading told The Post-Crescent. "The componentry is relatively similar to the previous plans, but I think there's going to be a better flow, a better connection to and from the park."
The Parks and Recreation Commission is expected to vote on the master plan after the cost estimates and architectural renderings are completed.
What's the purpose of the buildings at Arrowhead?
The RDG plan shows the amphitheater and recreation lawn in the center of the park. The west side depicts a nature-inspired landscape and shoreline and a pier. The east side features a more urban feel with the destination building, community building, celebration lawn, sculpture garden and overpass that would span the Canadian National railroad line to link the park with Gateway Plaza and the downtown.
Bell said the destination building would provide a gathering space for 300 to 450 people for special events such as weddings or indoor concerts.
"There aren't larger facilities on the water that are regional destinations, so this would be one of them," Bell said. "We are also proposing a restaurant that could be housed within that facility."
The community building wouldn't necessarily be a recreation facility, Bell said, but rather would accommodate nonprofit organizations and other agencies "that are thinking about the greater good for citizens within your community."
"At some point we will find a partner or partners and start to finalize the real vision of what this building could be," Bell said.
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What were the first impressions of the plan?
Mayor Jane Lang said the development of Arrowhead Park "can be another game-changing piece of our community" due to its proximity to downtown.
Ted Galloway, a member of the parks commission, said the entry to the park from downtown needs to be dynamic and questioned whether the current design accomplishes that.
"What is it entering into? A parking lot, and there's a building ruining the view" of the lake, Galloway said.
Neenah resident Scott Becher said the master plan makes Arrowhead look Millennium Park in Chicago.
"Unless John Bergstrom is dropping $30 million, I don't see how the city can ultimately afford anything close to this," Becher told The Post-Crescent.
Development has been decades in the making
The land for Arrowhead Park was deeded to the city in 1951 for a public purpose. It has 2,400 feet of shoreline — more than any other Neenah park — but sat largely idle for decades, hidden behind the city's paper industry. With the demolition of the Glatfelter paper mill in 2008 and the Fox Valley Energy Center in 2016, the park came more into public view.
The popular Loop the Lake recreation trail runs through Arrowhead Park, and Neenah built a $564,000 pier and kayak launch earlier this year to improve access to Little Lake Butte des Morts.
The 2024 city budget contains $2 million for Arrowhead Park. The work will include trail and prairie development on the west side of the park and design and engineering to improve access on the east side.
Development of the property is complicated because the park is a capped landfill containing paper sludge contaminated with PCBs, which are considered a probable human carcinogen. Any development has to work around the confines of the clay cap.
Key dates in the development of Arrowhead Park
1950: Bergstrom Paper Co. proposes to the city that a park be developed on land created by filling in the south end of Little Lake Butte des Morts with paper sludge. The proposal is viewed favorably because it would provide the company with a place to dump its waste while giving the public a new waterfront recreational area.
1951: The state deeds 32 acres of lake bottom to Neenah for a public purpose.
1973: Bergstrom hires a landscape architect to develop park plans for the landfill.
1975: Neenah designates the landfill as a public recreational area. Bergstrom and the city agree to share the costs of capping the landfill.
1982: The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources recommends Neenah stop development because the paper sludge in the landfill contains hazardous levels of PCBs. It says additional clay is needed to cover the landfill.
1995: Neenah agrees to lease a section of the park to Minergy Corp. for the construction and operation of a $45 million waste-to-energy plant. The city previously had leased parkland to Glatfelter, which bought the Bergstrom mill in 1979.
1998: Minergy begins operation of the plant. It burns natural gas and paper sludge that otherwise would be landfilled to produce steam for the Glatfelter mill and glass aggregate for the construction industry.
2006: The Glatfelter mill closes. Minergy sells its plant to Thermagen Power Group, which operates it as Fox Valley Energy Center.
2008: Neenah demolishes the Glatfelter mill and pays for the development of a master plan for Arrowhead Park.
2013: Fox Valley Energy Center ceases operations.
2014: Neenah constructs an asphalt trail along the park shoreline.
2016: The city razes Fox Valley Energy Center.
2017: The Neenah Parks and Recreation Commission adopts a new master plan for the park.
2023: The city constructs a pier and unveils a new master plan for the park.
Contact Duke Behnke at 920-993-7176 or dbehnke@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DukeBehnke.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Neenah's Arrowhead Park plan shows amphitheater, waterfront restaurant
