The Friends of Peninsula State Park is not stopping at the soon-to-be-reopened Eagle Tower and White Cedar Nature Center when it comes to improvements. The group raised over $750,000 to help fund the installation of the new Eagle Tower in addition to thousands more to build an addition to the nature center which remains closed due to the pandemic. Business Manager Steve Strucely says the group is exploring fundraising options for future projects which include a new amphitheater for the nature center and the replacement of some of the park’s fire rings and picnic tables. Last month’s announcement from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources easing the restrictions on larger groups was good news for the organization, which provides much of the manpower with the upkeep of the park.

Strucely is hopeful they will be able to hold clean-up events as the weather begins to warm up in addition to helping out at some park events this summer. The DNR reported that state parks like Peninsula set visitation records in 2020 due to pandemic restrictions forcing people to find more outdoor activities.