Keep it simple and keep it green. That was the main theme Brad Bonk took away from the more than 530 people who filled out a survey for what they wanted to see at Pilgrim Point Park on Lake Ida.

Bonk, Douglas County Parks Superintendent, along with Jillian Reiner, project landscape architect with Hagstrom Engineering, the consulting firm working on Pilgrim Point, were on hand Wednesday, April 28, at an open house for the park.

Members of the public were invited to see two concept drawings for the future park and offer further comments. For those who would still like to provide input, they can do so through a virtual platform. A website is now available, https://pilgrimpointpark.weebly.com .

Bonk said so far, the feedback the county has received for the park has been overwhelmingly positive. Reiner agreed, noting that during the open house people were receptive to the two options.

“They like that it’s minimal,” she said of the designs for the park.

Although, she added, there were some people in the survey who wanted to see a few more elements, such as a restaurant or options for food trucks.

After the open house, the county and the engineering firm will review the comments and finalize a master plan for the park. Reiner said a new plan will be created using elements from both options based on the feedback from the public.

That plan is set to be proposed to the building committee at the end of May. The master plan will then be presented to the county board for adoption at the June 15 regular board meeting.

In June, the conditional use permit will be applied for so that the park can be created. The plan is to start working on the park in July. The park and the swimming beach are expected to open in 2022.

Background

The dotted line was signed last November for the sale of the county’s portion of Pilgrim Point on Lake Ida, which is 8.2 acres. Douglas County purchased the property for $2 million with half of that money – $1 million – coming in the form of a cash donation from Gene Hauer, who lives in the Twin Cities metro area. Hauer’s family, including his daughter and son-in-law, Jill and Mark Swanson who live on Lake Ida, owns Pilgrim Point Shores LLC.

Pilgrim Point Shores purchased the rest of the Pilgrim Point land and is the group that will be developing the land. In September 2020, the commissioners signed a joint purchase agreement with Pilgrim Point Shores. The group was going to donate 4 acres of the land they purchased, but decided later that Hauer would donate the $1 million so that the county could just purchase the land outright.