By Brandi Makuski

The Village of Plover is gearing up for a big change at Lake Pacawa Park.

A donation drive for the $4.5-million-overhaul of the village’s go-to park is now underway, according to Administrator Dan Mahoney, who announced on Monday that a large chunk of donor funding for the park’s new band shell was already in hand.

About 75 percent of $560,000 needed for construction of the band shell has already been raised, Mahoney told the Parks Committee on July 31. Once the entire amount has been raised, he added, construction can begin.

The price tag includes the physical band shell and foundation, along with a pavilion/dance area and what Mahoney calls “amphitheater-style seating”.

“It’s basically ground seating pitched at a little less than a three-to-one slope,” Mahoney said, adding piles of fill dirt were visible at Saturday’s Celebrate Plover event. That fill, he said, came from both the village and Fahrner Excavating, Inc.

“Basically, over [the distance of] several hundred feet, we’re raising the grade three feet,” Mahoney said of the seating area.

Stevens Point-based Rettler Corporation created the conceptual plan for the park, which currently includes the band shell, along with new parking space for more than 200. New LED lighting, additional bathrooms and pavilions are also planned throughout the park.

The revamp also includes a new fishing dock and scenic overlook, reconstructed driving surfaces, new perimeter walking paths and improved playing fields.

While funding for the village’s parks comes from room tax and park impact fees, the Lake Pacawa Park revamp will be funded through donations, and so far, the generosity has been “humbling”, Mahoney said.

A master plan for the future of the park was first proposed in Jan. of 2014.

“The goal is to start construction as soon as we can,” he said. “Some of our donors would like us to get started this year, if we can, but most likely our construction will start next year.”