Village seeks grant to cover half the cost of park pavilion

The construction of a splash pad at Marie Kraus Park and the paving of both its parking lot and the road leading to it next year is just the start of improvements for the Village of Fredonia’s largest and arguably most popular park.

Last week, the Fredonia Village Board agreed to apply for a $50,000 matching state grant to construct a pavilion there.

Village Administrator Christophe Jenkins said the Vibrant Spaces grant is competitive but he thinks the village’s request meets its goal of creating a public, multi-use gathering space.

“It’s helping to bring more people into the village to stop at our local stores and get a haircut or shop,” he said.

The grant would cover half of the cost to construct a $100,000 pavilion.

“The grant request gives us time to figure out how we would raise the other part of the money,” he said. The Vibrant Spaces grant would require that construction start in 2025 and finish the next year.

In October, the Village Board approved $196,000 in contracts for the final design, engineering and construction of a splash pad — an outdoor water-jet area — at the park. The contracts cover almost all of the cost of construction, only electrical work and running the water line remain.

The village hopes to start construction early in spring to have the splash pad ready by summer.

Nearly 40 local businesses and private donors gave more than $130,000 to pay for the splash pad. The Village Board designated $100,000 of its American Rescue Plan Act funds to the pad.

The village’s 2025 budget includes $307,000 in funding for engineering and paving of Wenzel Road and the Marie Kraus parking lot.

Jenkins said that money is set aside to “pave as much as we can” of the road and parking lot.

The village purchased the 42-acre park in 1995. Only eight acres can be built on. The sewage treatment plant occupies space to the west and a large portion of the park is in a floodplain and wetlands, according to the village’s open space plan approved last year.

The open space plan calls for adding a Little League baseball field and playground to the park in the future, along with permanent restrooms. The park currently has a disc golf course and two soccer fields.