No one can say the City of Monroe is not trying to promote itself as a community with much to offer.
Wednesday night, the city continued to provide examples of its desire to attract visitors from outside the area to spend time in the Green County seat.
The Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners heard from Mayor Ron Marsh and Parks Supervisor Paul Klinzing about plans for a trailhead at the north end of the Badger State Trail, near Twining Park.
The Badger State Trail, once completed, will extend from Fitchburg, just south of Madison, to the Illinois state line, where it will connect with the Jane Addams Trail.
Marsh's and Klinzing's plans call for a two-story building erected on city property and more parking spaces where the trail meets 14th Avenue.
The top level of the trailhead facility, about 1,000 square feet, will be multi-seasonal and multi-use, and handicapped accessible. The lower level would be a storage garage for the Parks Department.
The building will be made as "green" as possible, and would utilize an A-frame shape with glass on the southern exposure for solar heat. The large windows also would be overlooking the park, a feature Marsh said would make the building an ideal place to hold functions year-round.
A small parking lot would be located near the building. The facility also could include a parking lot across the street from the building for cars of bicyclists.
The city would seek a grant to help pay for the facility.
The trailhead certainly would invite a number of bicyclists to take a rest in Monroe and enjoy its amenities, and, who knows, they may venture further into the city.
The building also would be another place in Monroe to have the many community celebrations and banquets that take place. A new building overlooking a park is a perfect place for such events.
This year, thousands of people will come to Monroe for Cheese Days in September, but the community's sesquicentennial celebration has the chance to draw a number of people to the Swiss cheese capital.
The City Council on Wednesday night approved funding of $7,500 for the celebration. Part of that money will go toward creation of a brochure and flyer for a kickoff with an April 4 birthday bash at Turner Hall.
The brochures have just been sent to the printers, and are expected to be ready by the end of February or early March. Of the 27,000 copies ordered, 6,889 will be sent to residents in the Monroe zip code.
That means more than 21,000 brochures will go to places outside of Monroe. What better way to market the community than to bring the community to people outside of Monroe?
This year is shaping up to be an important one for Monroe, and a trailhead and increased awareness of the community's sesquicentennial should bring in more people to celebrate it.
Wednesday night, the city continued to provide examples of its desire to attract visitors from outside the area to spend time in the Green County seat.
The Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners heard from Mayor Ron Marsh and Parks Supervisor Paul Klinzing about plans for a trailhead at the north end of the Badger State Trail, near Twining Park.
The Badger State Trail, once completed, will extend from Fitchburg, just south of Madison, to the Illinois state line, where it will connect with the Jane Addams Trail.
Marsh's and Klinzing's plans call for a two-story building erected on city property and more parking spaces where the trail meets 14th Avenue.
The top level of the trailhead facility, about 1,000 square feet, will be multi-seasonal and multi-use, and handicapped accessible. The lower level would be a storage garage for the Parks Department.
The building will be made as "green" as possible, and would utilize an A-frame shape with glass on the southern exposure for solar heat. The large windows also would be overlooking the park, a feature Marsh said would make the building an ideal place to hold functions year-round.
A small parking lot would be located near the building. The facility also could include a parking lot across the street from the building for cars of bicyclists.
The city would seek a grant to help pay for the facility.
The trailhead certainly would invite a number of bicyclists to take a rest in Monroe and enjoy its amenities, and, who knows, they may venture further into the city.
The building also would be another place in Monroe to have the many community celebrations and banquets that take place. A new building overlooking a park is a perfect place for such events.
This year, thousands of people will come to Monroe for Cheese Days in September, but the community's sesquicentennial celebration has the chance to draw a number of people to the Swiss cheese capital.
The City Council on Wednesday night approved funding of $7,500 for the celebration. Part of that money will go toward creation of a brochure and flyer for a kickoff with an April 4 birthday bash at Turner Hall.
The brochures have just been sent to the printers, and are expected to be ready by the end of February or early March. Of the 27,000 copies ordered, 6,889 will be sent to residents in the Monroe zip code.
That means more than 21,000 brochures will go to places outside of Monroe. What better way to market the community than to bring the community to people outside of Monroe?
This year is shaping up to be an important one for Monroe, and a trailhead and increased awareness of the community's sesquicentennial should bring in more people to celebrate it.
