Dane County Executive Parisi Announces Improvements at Schumacher Farm County Park
October 21, 2016
Stephanie Miller 608-267-8823
County Executive
Today Dane County Executive Joe Parisi announced upcoming improvements at Schumacher Farm County Park. As a part of County Executive Parisi’s 2017 budget he is proposing to allocate $200,000 to improve access to the Center for Rural Heritage at Schumacher Farm County Park, in addition to the $200,000 he allocated in 2015. Improvements will include accessible walkways for persons with disabilities, fire and EMS access routes and parking lots for visitors and special events that include storm water infiltration areas to treat runoff.
“Schumacher Farm County Park is a wonderful place to visit,” said Dane County Executive Joe Parisi. “I am happy to be able to improve access for the facility and partner with the Friends of Schumacher Farm County Park to update the facility.”
Dane County and the Friends of Schumacher Farm County Park have worked these past few years on a new partnership that will bring improvements to the historic county owned facilities while in turn increasing the role of the Friends’ group in caring for the buildings and nearby grounds. In his 2015 budget, Dane County Executive Parisi also allocated $200,000 for the construction of the restrooms, flooring and heat inside the Center for Rural History along with other improvements. Work on both projects is expected next year.
"I am excited and very appreciative of all of the efforts that have been made as we partner with the county on the upcoming work to enhance Schumacher Park,” said Rosa Ropers, President of Friends of Schumacher Farm Board. “We especially want to thank County Executive Parisi for including monies in his 2017 budget proposal to enable the work to be done toward the completion of this project. The work that will be accomplished will enable us to provide many new amenities for our visitors."
The historic Schumacher Farm County Park is a 117 acre outdoor museum representing local farm life during the 1920's and 1930's and features a 45 acre prairie restoration and the farmstead with spacious and shady grounds. Marcella Pendall Schumacher donated the land for the park to Dane County in 1978. Dane County acquired 77 acres in 2005 to make the park its current size. The park is open year round during day light hours for social and professional gatherings, hiking and snowshoeing. Programming and museum development are sponsored by the Friends of Schumacher Farm http://www.madison.com/communities/fsf/contact.php and include heirloom gardening, educational field trips, prairie tours, old farm machinery restoration, building restorations, and special public events reminiscent of rural culture in that time period. Please visit the Friends of Schumacher Farm website for more information.
The Friends of Schumacher Farm have a two-part mission, to preserve life ways of rural Dane County through education and restoration and to maintain a conservancy for nature study and recreational activities.