Stevens Point Mayor provides updates about Goerke Park, Business 51 and way to honor veterans

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) - There’s a lot going on this summer in Stevens Point. Mayor Mike Wiza stopped by Sunrise 7 to sit down with Tony Langfellow and provide some updates.

Mayor Wiza said one of the most exciting projects is going on at Goerke Park.

“Years ago, about 15 years ago, actually, we put some artificial turf in there, which made it much, much more usable, and user friendly,” Wiza said.

“Well, they had a life expectancy of 10 years. Here we are 15 years later, and it needs to be replaced. So almost exclusively through private donations and sponsorships, they raised over $5 million to do some major renovations at the Community Stadium. That’s been around since the 30s. So new turf is in we’ve we finished that up. We had our first game on it went very, very well last Friday. We have a new Jumbotron-- a big, giant video board-- It’s the biggest screen in the city. I actually hope we can do some movies in the park there during the nine game days. And then they blow up inflatable entranceways for like SPASH Panthers.

Other changes are also happening at the stadium.

“We’re creating a new medical facility where they right off the field into a medical bay if necessary. The ambulance can pull right in and get them out of the elements. We’re also building new locker rooms. We’re doing some renovations to concession stands.... the roof,” Wiza said.

Another topic on the mind of people in Stevens Point is Business 51.

“Yeah, so the referendum passed. And there’s nothing we’re going to be able to do about that except deal with it for now. But we did talk Monday and we finally reached a point where I think people are starting to grasp the reality of ‘Boy, this is this is real’. Let’s go back to the table. Because there’s a lot of people that don’t like this proposed plan. And last night or a Monday rather, the Council voted to get a another public meeting together. And this one will have DOT representatives and AECOM. And we’re going to sit together and we’re going to talk about what solutions can we come up with. So we’re at a good place right now. I was pleasantly surprised on Monday. Speaking of the referendum will have no less than four referendum questions on the November ballot in the city of Stevens Point for what I call routine work,” Wiza said.

The city is also working on a new initiative to honor the area’s veterans.

Mayor Wiza said honorary banners were be placed on Armed Forces Memorial Bridge. The bridge is over the Wisconsin River on old Highway 10.

“So if there’s a veteran in your family that you’d like to recognize, start getting some information together. And we’ll have stuff on our website and we’ll probably send a little notice where people can contact,” Wiza Mayor.

Mayor Wiza sits down with NewsChannel 7 each month. Click here to view last month’s topics.

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