Gitzlaff Park

Location

The 24.20 future plan site is located on the north side of 12 Street (Highway E) across from the Somers Post Office

The long term park concept map can be viewed here.

Description

This site consists of an outdoor recreational plan that calls for walking trails, restored woodlands and prairie, and an environmental corridor. This future park also plans for a rain garden, covered pedestrian bridge over the Pike River, tennis courts, community gardens, archery range, community and nature center, outdoor event space as well as multipurpose green space. Parking areas are planned as well as restrooms. A good portion of the Somers’ branch of the Pike River runs through this property.

This project was funded by a private grant from the Root/Pike Watershed Initiative Network. The work on this site is currently being funded by a private grant from the The Fund For Lake Michigan.

History

The Board of Supervisors of the Town of Somers received an offer from Larry Gitzlaff to donate a parcel of land to use as a Town park. The parcel consists of approximately 23.91 acres, is centrally located, easily accessible by a county highway, and is a valuable addition to the Town’s park system. The Town of Somers accepted the generous offer from Larry Gitzlaff and documents were prepared to facilitate the transfer of the land.

The land donated by Mr. Gitzlaff shall be restricted so that it can only be used for park purposes for a minimum of 40 years from March 2007 to ensure that the property be utilized for the use intended by Mr. Gitzlaff, and that any name given to this park property include the name of “Gitzlaff” or “Gitzlaff Family”.

Gitzlaff Farms, Inc. will continue to farm the property on an annual basis until such time as the Town has determined to proceed to physically improve the property to improved park status.

The Town Board of Somers, on behalf of all residents, expresses its deep appreciation to Mr. Larry Gitzlaff for this donation and applauds him for his civic consciousness in granting this land to the Town. Both present and future generations owe Mr. Gitzlaff a debt of gratitude for his foresight in making this gift to the Town which will be available for future generations to enjoy.

The Kenosha News reported in an article Somers Gets Large Donation for Park Land, February 14, 2007, “The land was appraised recently at $657,500 and represents at least a 33 percent increase to the town’s total park land.It will be the second largest piece of dedicated park land in the town.”