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  • This Marks The 25th Anniversary For “Save The Park”

This Marks The 25th Anniversary For “Save The Park”

July 31, 2024 Steve Schwaller

(Arnolds Park)– This marks the 25th anniversary of a successful campaign in which the lakes area community raised millions of dollars in just a matter of weeks to spare the Arnolds Park Amusement Park from a developer’s plans to build condominiums on the site.

In fact, $5.5 million was raised in just six weeks to meet the developer’s purchase price. The final amount raised, however, actually surpassed that, soaring to $7.25 million. Arnolds Park CEO Jon Pausley says it also made possible what we know today as the “green space”, or Preservation Plaza…

“Out of that fund we created this green space that we call Preservation Plaza out here, put it into a conservation easement, the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation. It was really a gift from the Andrea Waitt Carlton Foundation that paved the way for Preservation Plaza to be a spot where the community can always have a spot to gather. This will always be green, it will never be developed. It will always be free for people to come enjoy the lake views, be able to have picnics on, and the part of that obviously is our concert series that continues to grow and grow and still be free on Saturday nights for everyone to come.”

Pausley says a special event will be held during the concert this Saturday evening to commemorate what happened 25 years ago…

“It was an heroic effort by the community. It’s an amazing story. It should be made into a movie some day. We want to commemorate it on this 25th anniversary.”

He says the ceremony will honor those who made the last minute fundraising campaign a success.

(News partner KTIV in Sioux City contributed to this story)

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