Fontana Park Commission gives nod to holiday tree at Porter Court Plaza

By Annaliese Alexander Last updated Jan 27, 2023

Porter Court Plaza in the downtown heart of Fontana will take on a festive new look for residents and visitors alike this coming holiday season as part of ongoing village efforts to enhance the community’s holiday lighting displays.

Meeting on Jan. 18, the Fontana Park Commission gave an informal green light go-ahead recommendation to Public Works Director Kevin Day’s request to install a new 22-foot-tall holiday panel tree, outfitted with white LED lights, in the space formerly occupied by the water fountain feature at Porter Court Plaza, overlooked by the Fontana Parks Commission and located along Porter Court between Mill Street and State Hwy. 67 (Valley View Road).

“Our idea for right now is to put it down in Porter Court where the fountain was…,” Day said, noting an alternate idea was to put the new panel tree at Reid Park. “It can be moved as desired.”

Last year, the Fontana Village Board approved removal of the deteriorating water feature.

In Park Commission discussions, members indicated they were “excited” to learn about the panel tree purchase and supportive of a Porter Court Plaza placement of the panel tree, which Day said would be similar to the one installed at nearby The Abbey Resort, 269 Fontana Boulevard.

Noting the panel tree in front of The Abbey Resort is “beautiful” and “looks nice,” Park Commission members called Porter Court Plaza the “most visible” location for erecting the village’s new panel tree, given its proximity to Hwy. 67 (Valley View Drive), a heavily-used traffic corridor through the village between neighboring Walworth, Williams Bay and Delavan.

On Jan. 10, the Fontana Tourism Commission approved Day’s request for the $12,000 purchase of the panel tree to augment the village’s inventory of municipal holiday decorations.

The panel tree is being purchased at a post-holiday clearance 33% discount from Bethlehem, Penn.-based Holiday Outdoor Décor, the largest commercial holiday display company in the country. In business for more than a century, the firm specializes in offering made-in-the-USA commercial holiday decorations.

Approvals given

In other news at the Jan. 18 meeting, Park Commission members approved:

Receipt of an unrestricted $2,500 monetary donation to the Fontana Park Commission from the Adreani Family Foundation.

A park use permit application filed by the Fontana Garden Club for the use of Porter Court Plaza in downtown Fontana on Saturday, May 27 from 7 am to 5 pm for its annual Memorial Day weekend Pots and Pies Garden Fair fundraiser in support of the club’s student Scholarship Fund. Fees were waived by the Park Commission.

A park use permit application filed by the Big Foot Lions Club for the use of the Reid Park Pavilion and all of Reid Park on Saturday, July 29 from noon to 11:30 pm to the club’s annual Lobster Boil fundraiser. Fees were waived by the Park Commission.

A park use permit application filed by the Big Food Lions Club for the use of Reid Park Gazebo on Saturday, Sept. 26 from 7 am to 2 pm for the fundraising Big Foot Triathlon. Fees were waived by the Park Commission.

An application from Elkhorn-based GTS, one of the fastest growing baseball and softball organizations in Wisconsin, for tournament use of the Duck Pond ballfields on March 25, April 22, April 29, May 12-14, May 27-29 and June 2 -4.

An application from GTS for April-July Monday night practice use of the Duck Pond ballfields from 5-7:30 pm

next meeting

The next meeting of the Fontana Park Commission will be held Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 5 pm in the town office conference room at Fontana Village Hall, 175 Valley View Dr. (State Hwy. 67), Fontana.