Chelsea Schneider, Municipal Innovations Specialist, Aim
Trafalgar is celebrating the opening of the town’s first community park, a project that repurposed vacant land into a popular amenity.
Liberty Park opened this spring and quickly became a destination for family gatherings, community events and pick-up basketball games. With the activities, Trafalgar officials hope the park brings the small, yet growing, community closer together.
“If you want your community to grow, you need to bring people into your community and that’s how you end up building houses,” said Donna Moore, Trafalgar clerk treasurer. “If people are down here looking at a property, especially if they have kids, that (park) could be a deciding factor.”
Trafalgar’s park features playground equipment, a basketball court and two shelter houses. The town also plans to add restroom facilities and electrical connections at the shelters to further boost Liberty Park. The opening of the park also has served as a catalyst for a nearby community to explore building one of its own, Moore said.
“When you drive down by (Liberty Park), you see people over there constantly,” Moore said, “and I know one of the council members even commented that he constantly sees kids out there playing basketball, which is so good to have something like that.”
The land for the park was donated to the town by Premier Ag, when the company chose to move its co-op to a new location. With the land, the town council decided to do something for the community – and the idea for a park was born.
Trafalgar officials welcomed community members to the park in April for an open house. Since then, the park has attracted a number of gatherings, including an upcoming movie night hosted by a local church with food trucks and a bounce house.
The park, Moore said, also will play an important role in Trafalgar’s future.
“I think with more and more people moving in,” she said, “then you’ll see more growth in businesses.”