Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

Lester Prairie’s downtown park continues to take shape



LESTER PRAIRIE, MN – Motorists passing through downtown Lester Prairie last week noticed a flurry of activity near the intersection of Central Avenue and Juniper Street, with earth movers, concrete workers, and electricians all hard at work.

Now that the Prairie Days festival is over, progress on Lester Prairie’s downtown park has resumed in earnest.

Construction of the gazebo was completed earlier this summer, but work in the park was suspended until after Prairie Days to avoid having the ground torn up during the annual city festival, according to Ralph Machemehl, co-chair of the downtown park committee. Most of the Prairie Days events took place in and around the downtown park this year.

The ground has been leveled and all of the electrical wiring has been installed, including wiring for an electronic sign that will be installed later to advertise community events.

Piers were also poured for light posts.

Forms were set and concrete was poured for the walkways.

Machemehl said workers installed conduit under the walkways prior to the concrete being installed in preparation for an irrigation system that will be installed later.

A missing section of curb along Central Avenue has also been replaced, providing handicapped accessibility to the walkway from that point.

Machemehl said a load of black dirt has been donated, and will be spread over the area in preparation for grass seeding.

The downtown park committee is seeking volunteers to help remove rocks and other debris from the dirt. Anyone interested in helping with this project may contact Ralph or Donna Machemehl at (320) 395-2246 to get on the list.

The seeding will not be done until the end of August or some time in September, Machemehl said.

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