After years of debate a Fond du Lac Lakeside Park pavilion project is on hold again. Fond du Lac city councilmember Ben Giles wants the council to pause and re-evaluate plans to build a new pavilion on the site of the existing pavilion. Giles says there are unnamed investors in the community who have approached him stating they want the council to instead build what he described as a destination pavilion on green space at the end of North Main Street. “What we talked about in 2015 and 2016 about moving the pavilion to end of North Main Street, I think that’s the right move,” Giles told WFDL news. “We need to start the conversation over.” City councilmember Karen Merkel said the council has reviewed this over and over, and the current plan is what the community wants. “I’ve been through the process and listened to the citizens of the city. What we ended up with is exactly what they wanted.” Merkel says she was surprised to see this on the council agenda and also questioned why the investors Giles spoke of hadn’t contacted the city or any other councilmembers. At last night’s city council meeting representatives of Envision Greater Fond du lac, Fond du Lac Festivals and Destination Lake Winnebago Region all spoke in favor of putting the current pavilion plan on hold. Jim Cleveland with Envision Greater Fond du Lac says the existing plans do not reflect what the organization has heard from the greater community and business stakeholders. “A repositioned pavilion at the end of North Main Streeet combined with a band shell, outdoor seating and other reasonable amenities would have a huge impact on our major festival Walleye Weekend. It would also open the door to more and regular useage of Lakeside Park without compromising the park’s natural beauty,” Fond du Lac Festivals Board president Terry Davis said. In the end the council voted to table Giles’ motion to re-evaluate the pavilion project.
