Kiwanis Park, Kiwanis Pond and Kiwanis Trail

Kiwanis Park

	Kiwanis Park is located at the corner of Holiday and Pontiac Drives in Janesville, WI. The park is 9.12 acres in size and is referred to as a Community Park as it is intended to serve the entire community. The park was named and adopted by the Kiwanis Noon Club and Blackhawk Golden K Clubs of Janesville in 1992. The clubs have planted over 100 trees in the park, installed 2 picnic pavilions in October 1994, annually plant flower beds at the corner, and have a flag disposal ceremony near Flag Day each year.
Kiwanis Trail
The Kiwanis Trail is 3.2 miles in length beginning at the Milwaukee Street Bridge over the Rock River and extending along the west shoreline and continuing to the south pavilion at Riverside Park. The trail was the brainchild of the Kiwanis Club and lead by David Knoerr, who was then city engineer. This is a picture from the dedication ceremony and the historic boulder which is located at the Kiwanis Trail trailhead, located next to the pavilion immediately behind the Mercy Health Mall.
Kiwanis Pond
	Kiwanis Pond in Janesville Wisconsin was so named in 1987 when the Janesville Kiwanis Club adopted what was formerly known as Blackhawk Pond. The pond includes 10.25 acres of water surrounded by 11.88 acres of land for a total park site size of 22.13 acres.
Originally this area was known as Atlas Pit when it was operated at Atlas Sand and Gravel Company from 1932 until it was closed in 1960 as spring water filled the quarry and mining was no longer feasible. In 1962 this area was sold to the City for a park and the adjacent Blackhawk Golf Course. In 1993 the Kiwanis lead by former City Planner and Engineer Dave Knoerr designed and constructed a new handicap accessible fishing pier that extended 60’ out in the pond to a water depth of 16’ deep. This was a $10,000 project donated by Kiwanis. To save money the pier was efficiently built during the winter with piling posts driven through holes in the ice and the volunteers built the pier from the ice surface. Fish cribs were built on the ice and sunk within casting distance of the pier to provide fish habitat and improve fisherman success from the pier.
In 2008 considerable rains brought all time record flooding throughout Southern Wisconsin and the Janesville area. The Rock River was way out of its banks. High ground water raised the water level of Kiwanis Pond by several feet as there is no outlet to drain this spring fed pond. The high water rose above the fishing pier and remained for several years causing considerable damage to the pier deck and structure. In the face of city need, The Kiwanis Clubs of Janesville stepped forward once again in 2012 to rebuild the damaged 60’ long x 8’ wide pier plus “T” shaped fishing end-structure measuring 10’ wide by 20’ in length. Damage to the pier was estimated by the city to $29,000 for outside contractors to repair or replace. City engineering staff and club volunteers meet on several occasions which provided city engineer Matt McGrath the information he needed to create plans to salvage and rebuild the existing pier. The Kiwanis Clubs donated over $11,000 to fund the materials for pier reconstruction. Golden Kiwanis Club member Gordon Drake put in over 280 volunteer hours in leading the pier rebuilt. Golden Kiwanis members added 45 hours of work and the Noon Kiwanis Club members lead by member Ben Coopman provided over 100 additional hours of volunteer effort. Further community volunteers contributed over 100 hours of work including volunteer hours by the Janesville Fire Department Divers who reinforced the several long piling posts which support the pier’s 60’ length.