Construction of Thompson Park Campground To Start This Month A $3.5 million contract for construction of a campground and new visitor center at Gov. Thompson State Park has been awarded to Immel Construction of Green Bay, Park Manager Maggie Kailhofer reported to fellow members of the Marinette County Tourism Alliance at a meeting Thursday, Oct. 8 in Wausaukee. Kailhofer said construction will start in October, weather permitting. Plans are to have the campground and visitor center open for the 2011 season.
The campground will include 50 camp sites and a shower building, Kailhofer said.
There were 50,000 admissions to the park this season, Kailhofer said, adding that was down from 100,000 last year. She explained the drop was due to closing the north entrance, which had been heavily used by area residents for access to fishing on the Caldron Falls Flowage.
The Alliance continues to seek persons interested in promoting tourism who are willing to serve on a volunteer basis. Terms expiring are at large positions held by Dave Schultz of Dunbar, Shirley Prudhomme of Crivitz, John Trombley of Crivitz and Lisa Hanson of Pembine, and group representatives Jon Kukuk for Marinette/Menominee Chamber of Commerce, Renee Kresl for Peshtigo Chamber of Commerce and Don Novak for the City of Niagara.
Kukuk, Alliance Chair, said the Chamber has reappointed him, and he has agreed to continue. Novak has retired as Niagara City Manager and Kukuk will contact and Nigara Mayor George Bousley, who also chairs Marinette County Board and the Economic Development Committee that oversees the Alliance. Peshtigo Chamber is expected to reappoint Kresl.
Schultz has announced that due to health reasons he will no longer serve when his term ends. Prudhomme is willing to continue if no one else comes forward. Trombley and Hanson have not indicated their preference, but each has missed more than three consecutive meetings and Kukuk will contact them.
Selection of new at large members is to be done at the December Alliance meeting. Anyone interested in serving is asked to contact Tourism Director Jamie Darge at the Chamber office or any Alliance member for information.
An Alliance presentation scheduled for the September meeting of the Marinette County Board was postponed for a month. Kukuk, Kresl, and Becky DeWitt are to make the report on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
A few problems were discovered with wording of a service contact with the Boomerang Marketing advertising agency, so proposed approval was postponed for clarification.
Marinette County Cross Country Ski Club has disbanded and will no longer be grooming trails. Kailhofer said trails in the park and Peshtigo River State Forest are still being groomed. She and Marketing Committee Chair Jim Orlowski will work together on wording for revisions of the cross country ski section in the Marinette County Tourist Guide.
Leon Popp reported on a critique of last year’s guide done at no charge by an independent advertising professional. There were recommendations for pictures of better clarity, front and back pages to include no paid advertising, consistent information, and the centerfold used for the waterfalls tour so it could be a pull out.
There was considerable discussion of items related to the Tourist Guide, which is main Alliance marketing tool. It is published by the Marinette Chamber under contact with the Alliance.
Darge said work on the Guide was severely hampered last year by a computer failure that wiped out most of the active files and they all had to be redone shortly before publication.
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