Beautiful Day for a Splash

Mayor Ben Schierer

Thursday was a picturesque day in downtown Fergus Falls as the public gathered for the groundbreaking of phase 2 of the Downtown Riverfront Plaza.  Mayor Ben Schierer spoke about the long road of a project that started in late summer of 2016.  Schierer said; “The idea was to use our public spaces downtown along the river, to get back to the river. To provide spaces for the public to gather and ultimately to leverage the public investment in these spaces to create private development.” The Mayor mention how excited he was to see construction starting on the old mill.

Noon Rotary President Ken Harty spoke of how in 2019 the service club wanted to do a centennial project to celebrate their 100^th anniversary in 2021. Harty also mentioned some of the fundraising that the Noon Rotary club has done, and it has raised $72,000 of its $80,000 goal.

The project fundraising co-lead Tosha Rolfs mentioned how “parents are always trying to find sources of entertainment to enrich and educate our children…. Sometimes will drive far and wide to find things to do but, how amazing if we didn’t have to drive that far or that wide.” Rolfs continued, “My family has been to splash pads in Barnesville, West Fargo, Eden Prairie, and Burnsville. Once you see that gleam in a child’s eyes while running through these epic water features and waterfalls and pools you’ll get it.”

The bulk of the construction will take place this year with the splash pad ready to open by May of 2024, and final completion in August of 2024.

See below for full ceremony.