By MIKE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
Two decades ago Goerke Park was considered an embarrassment to the community.
The east stands of the stadium - built in 1938 - were deteriorating, the wooden bleachers on the west side left many a fan with slivers, the cinder track was only four lanes wide, the stadium lights left dark spots and obstructed the view on the gridiron, and a snow fence surrounded the field.
A group of community members grew tired of what many called "an eyesore" and now Goerke Park is home to one of the state's finest sports complexes.
Chuck Nason and Bill Nuck were some of the community members who stepped forward to improve Goerke Park in 1980. The Goerke Park Sports Complex committee, which the two co-chaired, worked together with the Portage County Youth On Ice to raise money to renovate the football stadium and track and construct the K.B. Willett Arena.
"We basically had a Class D facility. It was awful," Nason said.
"The commissioner of the (Wisconsin State University Conference) told me it was probably the worst football field in the conference at the time," Nuck said.
The Sports Complex committee and PCYOI weren't on the same page at first. The Sports Complex committee was planning to renovate Goerke while PCYOI was looking for a site to construct an ice facility with at least a roof. The two joined forces, Nason and Nuck said, after both groups realized they needed locker rooms and a concession stand. The groups said it would be tough for the community to support two separate projects.
"It was really a desire to conserve community resources," Nason said. "The common denominator was locker rooms. The cost of duplicating the locker rooms was well into six figures."
After working with the Stevens Point Parks and Recreation Department, the Stevens Point Common Council and the Portage County Board of Supervisors, the two groups received 60 percent of the project's cost through a hotel-motel room tax. The other 40 percent would have to come through private donations.
Once the project started in the summer of 1980, volunteers chipped in to help defray labor costs.
On the football stadium portion of the project, volunteers dismantled the wooden bleachers on the west stand, tuck-pointed and resealed the east stands, helped install the new bleachers on the west end, constructed the press box and even installed sod on the football field. At times, volunteers worked around the clock and spent their weekends at the park.
"I think we had about 20 hard-core volunteers," Nuck said. "There were probably about 200 that volunteered and 20 to 25 that put in hundreds of hours.
"We saved the city a lot of money. The city engineering department supervised everything. Almost everything was done with volunteer labor."
The football stadium was up and running when the fall high school and university seasons opened. The K.B. Willett Arena took a little longer to complete, though. The arena opened for use on Nov. 18, 1981.
"It was a great community project," Nason said. "It's stood the test of time. I think we really got our money's worth out of the project. We think the complex is wonderful. I hope everybody agrees."
The K.B. Willett Arena project and the football stadium and track renovations weren't the only improvements at Goerke Park, named for Amanda Goerke, who created a trust fund of $10,000 in 1923 for city recreational facilities.
The site was privately owned originally and was known as the Fair Grounds. According to Malcolm Rosholt's "Our County Our Story" on May 5, 1931, the Common Council dedicated the land for a park. The southeast corner was set aside for a school, where P.J. Jacobs Junior High School now sits.
The first football game was played on the present field in 1932 and lights were installed by 1934. The concrete and stone stadium was constructed in 1938 as a Works Progress Administration project.
The city added tennis courts in 1951 and the municipal swimming pool in 1958. The Parks and Recreation Department renovated the running track this summer. The track, which was widened to eight lanes with a Resilite surface in 1980, now has a rubberized surface.