The above photos were from an open house at KD Park held last fall.
A schedule of limited operating hours and days in 2011 for Kenosha County’s KD Park were announced today.
The schedule will be:
The park will be open from 7 a.m. to dusk on:
- May 28, 29 and 30.
- June 4 and 5.
- June 18 and 19.
- July 2, 3 and 4.
- July 16 and 17.
- August 6 and 7.
- August 20 and 21.
- Sept. 3, 4 and 5.
Allowed activities within the park on those days will be hiking and catch and release fishing, county officials said.
The hours will be limited this year as a continuing effort to figure out what activities will be best to allow at the park as well as how to fund the park’s operations while using as little tax money as possible, said County Executive Jim Kreuser at a press conference today. Also to be worked out is what role — if any — the state Department of Natural Resources might play in the park.
“This day has been a long time coming,” Kreuser said.
The park, a former quarry, is located along Highway KD south of Highway 50 in Randall and Wheatland. The county has owned it for about 10 years and has been developing it as a park gradually for about three years. Outside of some open houses last year, it has not been open to the general public until the hours were announced today.
“I think we have those trails open and we ought to use them,” Kreuser said.
The County Executive’s Green Ribbon Committee, consisting of representatives from Snap-On Tools, Gateway Technical College, the Wilmot High School District, the Central High School District, County Board, a number of County Departments, and area residents has been meeting regularly to discuss creating a park with an emphasis on sustainable living education and recreation.
The GRC recently selected a consultant to assist in pulling together information gathered over the past year into a comprehensive master plan for the park’s long-term development. The consultant, JJR LLC of Madison, is expected to have a completed plan for the park by late this fall, public works director Ray Arbet said.
A sign design competition for the park was sponsored by the GRC and the Gateway Technical College Foundation. The contest was open to all Kenosha County High School students. The top three winners were all from Westosha Central High School’s graphic communications classes. They were: Val Krueger, first place; Kristen Pawlowski, second place; and the third place team of Ryan Schmidt, Shawna King and Alyssa Weis. All of the students are now collaborating on a final sign concept. The sign is expected to be completed and installed this summer.
I applaud the fish conservation effort being deployed on this project (we need more like it!). The notion of fishing barbless hooks (like many lakes in Canada) and maintaining a position of complete catch and release is noble and should serve as a model for lakes in the area to help preserve and promote trophy fishing potential.
All too often, as I take my boys to various lakes in the area, I see people keeping anything that lands on their hook with no remote thought of conservation or the impact such activity has on maintaining a sustainable fish population. Whomever is responsible for making the call for promoting such activity on this beautiful lake – God Bless You!
Nice Work!