Come Support the New Park Plan

On Wednesday, April 26, 2017 at 6 pm the Fond du Lac City council will met.  At this meeting, they will consider approval of the McDermott Park Master Plan presented by the Friends of McDermott Park.  You can see all of the plan by clicking here.

The McDermott Park Master Plan was approved by the FDL Advisory Parks Board On March 27, 2017.

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT at this meeting.  Come to the council chambers.  As you enter, you can pick up a form and register your approval for the plan.  If you like, you can also speak for up to 5 minutes during the public comments portion of the meeting.

Your presence at the meeting will show that you are behind the plan to improve the park.

If you cannot make it to the meeting, please call/email and let your council members know that you support this plan.   You can find their phone numbers and email addresses by clicking here.

Here are the ways the McDermott Park Master Plan Enhances the Park:

· Makes the park work for a variety of activities and all ages of people
· Makes it an all season park for all people
· Is a welcoming beacon for travelers coming into the city from the east side
· Connects the neighborhoods on the north and south
· Makes the existing features (playground, tennis courts, etc) more accessible to
people by introducing paths
· Introduces educational spaces with a variety of plantings (trees,shrubs, native
pernennial plants)
· A place of serenity and beauty in the heart of the city
· Ties in with initiatives to get people active outside
· Makes McDermott a destination park
· Gives Fond du Lac a new place to visit and spend time at.
· Makes Fond du Lac more attractive as a place to live, do business
· Trees/plantings will help absorb water in times of flooding.


The McDermott Park Friends group shows the commitment of citizens to their community parks and the betterment of public infrastructure in Fond du Lac.

The friends will set up a McDermott Park fund for donations through the FDL Foundation.

Capstone Project - Short Version of the Site Design

The McDermott Park Capstone project is an entire book!  67 pages of information.
Below are two pages from the book that show the site design.

If you would like to look at the entire project, click here.  This will take you to a page where you will find the project in sections.

McDermott Park Capstone Project

In the fall of 2015, the Friends of McDermott Park applied to be a capstone project at the Department of Landscape Architecture College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin Madison.

Fortunately we were chosen and senior Xue Xiong wrote a beautiful plan for our park.

We received the finished plan late in 2016.  This Monday, March 27th, that plan will be presented to the Advisory Parks Board.

Friends of McDermott Park spokesperson, Janelle Anderson, talked this morning with Greg Stensland on Between the Lines about the history, the park and the plan. Click here to listen.

Friends of McDermott Park Work on a Vision for the Park

Nancy Sondergard, the spokesperson for the Friends of McDermott Park was on Between the Lines with Greg Stensland this morning.  In the interview she spoke about how the Friends' will go forward and work to improve the park.

Listen to the interview by clicking HERE

WLA Decides to Discontinue Lease Negotiations for McDermott Park

This morning, spokesperson, Rev Boggs, told Greg Stensland on Between the Lines that WLA will not continue lease negotiations with the City of Fond du Lac for McDermott Park.

Listen to the interview HERE

The Fond du Lac Reporter also has an article.  Read it HERE

Join Our Mailing List

You can join our mailing list by signing up via the sidebar or by sending an email to preservemcdermott@gmail.com.  Please put your name in the email and we will add you to our mailing list.

Thanks for your interest in McDermott Park!

City, WLA Should Void Lease - Opinion Piece in FDL Reporter

You can read the latest opinion piece in the Fond du Lac Reporter by clicking HERE