The Fond du Lac city council has agreed to temporarily delay design work on a new Lakeside Park pavilion to allow time to evaluate alternate proposals. The council approved a resolution at their meeting Wednesday night to direct city staff to delay design work until February 15 to allow the council to evaluate alternate proposals from potential community partners related to the Lakeside Park Master Plan. The vote was five to two with council president Brian Kolstad and councilmember Kay Miller voting against. Councilmember Ben Giles asked for the delay after he says he was approached by investors who were not happy with the plan to rebuild on the existing site. Those developers have been identified as Mercury Marine, Agnesian SSM Health, J.F. Ahern, Grande Cheese, National Exchange Bank and Trust, C.D. Smith, Excel Engineering, Badger Liquor, and Society Insurance. Giles says it makes more sense to save money by remodeling the existing pavilion, build an amphitheater with boat docks in Lakeside Park West and develop the Saputo Cheese property possibly with a restaurant. “Doesn’t that sound awesome? It does, it really does. Spending $3.2 million on the pavilion I think takes a lot of those options off the table,” Gilees told WFDL news. Miller says Fond du Lac residents want the pavilion and they deserve it. She says the city can build the new pavilion and still do other projects at the park that the investors want to see. “I am all open and willing to have every conversation possible to talk to investors on all the aspects in the park…the amphitheater, Saputo Cheese, putting a micro-brewery there, more boat docks. But the pavilion is for the people here and they deserve it,” Miller told WFDL news. Funding for the project stays in the budget. Giles says if the council ultimately decides the existing plan is the route to go construction can still begin next summer as planned. City manager Joe Moore says the public spoke loud and clear three years ago against building a larger pavilion and restaurant on park land at the end of North Main Street.
