The Village of Holmen is a quickly growing community with a population of just over 11,000, located at the northern edge of the La Crosse-Onalaska Metropolitan Area. Situated amid the rolling hills and bluffs of the Driftless Area, this community has attractions both historic and recreational in nature — including 12 public parks and bicycle/pedestrian paths that connect to over 100 miles of regional trail networks.

MSA began working with the Village in 2007 and since has completed over 60 projects with the community ranging from master planning services to utility, park, street and roundabout improvements — as well as the design of a new public library and new police station.  When the Village recognized the need to expand to accommodate its growing population, it also saw great opportunity to add housing and neighborhood developments — as well as new park systems — for residents to enjoy. More recently, the community’s goal became the creation of three new parks, at a total combined construction and amenity budget of $4 million.

MSA was asked to lead this park trifecta project and to provide park master planning, site/civil engineering, stormwater engineering, architectural design, landscape design, site irrigation, structural engineering, mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) engineering, site lighting, ADA standardization and final furnishings design for all three parks: Pertzsch Park, McGilvray Park and Seven Bridges Park.

Pertzsch Park

Pertzsch Park is a new neighborhood park, spanning 2.83 acres in size and located in the southeastern portion of the Village. This park has been designed to accommodate the residential recreation needs of a development under construction between Sand Lake Road and Schilling Road neighborhoods. Similar in size and scope to McGilvray Park, Pertzsch Park offers a new playground with features and equipment to accommodate different ages, open green space for irrigated soccer fields, connecting sidewalks, finishing landscaping, signage, picnic tables, benches, bike racks, trash receptacles, drinking fountains and more. Pertzsch Park is also home to a seasonal building with restrooms and a covered picnic area with outdoor serving counter. The facility features two family restrooms and a mechanical room —providing an excellent space in which to host small gatherings, celebrations and picnics.

McGilvray Park

McGilvray Park is a second new 2.62-acre neighborhood park located at the northern terminus of Rotterdam Avenue. It features a new playground area, two shade shelters, a basketball court, open green space, looping sidewalk and finishing landscaping — with auxiliary amenities and signage. The playground is specifically designed to accommodate children 2-5 years of age in one zone, and those from 5-12 in another area. Accommodations for a variety of play spaces provides for safer use and better interactivity with those of similar abilities and interests. Ample park green spaces provide other areas for play and gathering, including the development of soccer fields which are locally irrigated and graded to allow for effective drainage. Finishing touches to McGilvray Park include picnic tables, benches, bike racks, trash receptacles, a drinking fountain and native plantings.

Seven Bridges Park

Seven Bridges Park is an expansive 14.96-acre destination community park located along the historic “Seven Bridges Road” at Old Highway 93 and McGilvray Road — a part of the community with a unique story. Once the settlement of Scottish immigrant Alexander McGilvray who ran a ferry service across the Black River, this area is now a popular tourism stop in which to view a series of rare steel bowstring arch truss bridges with wooden decking that claim a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. This area is also currently the location of the Van Loon Wildlife Area and hiking trail and just north of the new Seven Bridges Park.

Due to its larger footprint and frequent influx of visitors, Seven Bridges Park has been designed to offer something for everyone, with the goal of encouraging guests to stay and play a while. The site features a large seasonal building with multi-occupant restrooms, a family restroom, open-air park shelter, enclosed food support area with coiling counter door to serve larger gatherings and a variety of accessible seating areas and picnic tables to accompany. The park also includes an expansive playground, two baseball/softball diamonds with bleachers, a sprawling green space with room for two regulation-size soccer fields (locally irrigated with the option to rotate for optimal quality), a parking lot, looping path for pedestrians, bicyclists or other multi-modal use, integrated and automated park lighting, native landscaping, irrigation, shade structures, security camera system, auxiliary amenities and park signage. The park also features its own on-site stormwater system. MSA worked in close concert with the Village and local DNR to first create a 3D stormwater model of the park site before deciding final site layout, grading and stormwater conveyance systems.

Throughout the design phase of all three park projects, MSA architects and engineers conducted a thorough study of each site, including performing full topographic surveys and an evaluation of site constraints and opportunities. The team needed to consider park facilities and parking lot placement as well as circulation patterns for pedestrians and traffic for a holistic and unifying design — accommodating both motorized and non-motorized use. Each park is designed to maximize the user experience and welcome people of all ages and abilities. Materials have been selected to be maintenance friendly as well as environmentally sensitive, with the goal of delivering parks that are easy and cost-effective to operate and maintain. The aesthetic visions for McGilvray, Pertzsch, and Seven Bridges parks are also thematically tied with similar architecture, walkway geometries and materials, providing each space with a warm, welcoming feel and designs that deliver a thoughtful balance of form and function.

The Village of Holmen’s dedication to developing a new generation of high-caliber park and recreation facilities and continuing to enhance quality-of-life amenities within the community should be commended. These three dynamic park additions formally opened to the public in the summer of 2023, celebrated with a community ribbon-cutting event held on September 14, 2023. Congratulations to the Village on their outstanding new recreational additions and compliments to the community’s leadership and public for bringing these visions to life.