Panhandle Park photo from the Village of Dennison.
A dedication for the Panhandle Park was held Saturday marking the culmination of 15 years of improvement work.
Twin City Park and Waterways Group President Rita McPeak says the property on E. 3rd Street used to house City Auto, which was shut down due to a fire.
“Closed and the building was empty. It was like around 2006, 2008 somewhere around there, and it started with the Dennison Railroad Festival and Chamber of Commerce to purchase that land. Razed the building and then it was a really slow process to remediate and fix up that space. There was several things that happened from 2010 to about 2016, and then nothing for several years. When Beth DiDonato became director of the Chamber she took on that project and reinvigorated it.”
Grants and private donations helped improve the official starting point of the 1.1 miles trail that ends at McCluskey Park.
“There’s a paved walkway through the park with lights. The bridges are going to light up and that will happen every evening, and they can be seasonally adjusted as the sun goes down. They can also be color changing.”
ith the increased usage of Stillwater Creek, McPeak adds the non-profit group has been cleaning up the Twin City waterways for erosion and flood management.
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