Lions Club pavilion project moves toward final plans; commission discusses lighting, landscaping and grant timing

The Village of Cross Plains Plan Commission on Feb. 3 heard an update on the Lion’s Legacy Pavilion project from Lions Club representatives, who said the project has cleared key fundraising milestones and is approaching final site plans necessary to go to bid.

Mike Calvin, representing the Lions Club, told commissioners that Alliance completed its fundraising in December and that the group had prepared site plans and regulatory reports needed for Department of Natural Resources review. “Alliance did their entire part of raising all the money needed for the project,” Calvin said.

The project team described several design and implementation details commissioners flagged: lighting and electrical conduit for bollard-style path lights, a planned rain-garden buffer along the creek to meet DNR preferences, removal of some decorative lights from pavilion plans, and options to add speaker infrastructure later. Commissioners and presenters discussed where electricity would be sourced; the project lead said power would be routed from the Main Street/upper parking-lot side using conduit installed during prior work.

Commissioners discussed restroom access and event needs. The current design does not include permanent restrooms; presenters said water service is available and that a future modular restroom could be placed on the site. For near-term events, the presenters and commissioners discussed seasonal portable toilets and screening locations, noting flood risk at the low-lying areas that led the team to propose portable units in the parking-lot area rather than adjacent to the creek.

On landscaping, staff said they are coordinating with DNR to provide a larger vegetated buffer along the creek—more grasses and forbs and a rain-garden element—than is shown in the current renderings. That planting plan will be developed as an addendum to the submitted plans and could be implemented by village crews or contractors identified by the Lions Club.

Commissioners also raised budget and timing questions. Presenters said a grant award of about $249,000 was mentioned as covering roughly half of the estimated project cost; they emphasized the need to finalize purchases and bid documents quickly because the stewardship grant program named in discussion is up for reauthorization and could lapse on July 1. Commission staff noted the project has not been included in the capital improvement program (CIP) for the last two years and that the village still shows $37,400 outstanding toward the project in the CIP records. Commissioners recommended preparing a budget amendment and securing the Lions Club match as outlined in the memorandum of understanding before the village makes major purchases.

The project team said it expects to return with a final plan at the March meeting, at which point the commission will see materials suitable for bidding and for board review. Presenters mentioned an optimistic goal of symbolic ground-breaking in May if bidding and procurement proceed on schedule.

The commission took no formal vote on the pavilion at the Feb. 3 meeting; the item was an informational update with next steps identified for staff and the Lions Club.

Next steps: staff and the Lions Club will finalize site plans and the planting addendum, prepare bid documents for board review in March, and pursue matching funds and required grant documentation before purchases are made.