City, bank hope to develop land for memorial

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
The city of Newcastle and Pinnacle Bank of Newcastle are partnering with other local individuals to possibly develop the land, just under an acre,  to the north of the bank. During the  Oct. 18 meeting of the City Council, Mayor Pam Gualtieri reported that she had attended several meetings at the bank regarding the development of the land. 
According to Gualtieri, the plan would involve construction of a veterans memorial and splash pad, also known as a spray pool, is a recreational area, usually in a public place, with little to no standing water. She noted that the bank would donate the land to the city for the project. 
Pinnacle Bank President Justin Tystad later told the News Letter Journal that while the project is in the beginning stages, bank ownership was on board with donating the land. 
“It had to do with the veterans memorial. As soon as I told ownership they were looking for a spot, they said, ‘Donate the land,’” Tystad said. “We couldn’t think of a better neighbor than the veterans memorial.” 
At this point, the city is working on applying for grants and getting a feasibility study on the project completed, according to the vote made by the council. 
“The plan is to have a memorial, splash pad and the farmers market in the summer. Obviously, there are no plans on how it will be laid out,” Councilman Don Steveson said during the council meeting. “It is in the planning stages; we would figure out where those would all be.” 
Tystad then told the News Letter Journal that a designer would be involved and would design a layout to accommodate the different potential parts of the plan. 
“We want to leave it as an open canvas so they can come up with something that makes you say, ‘Wow,’” he said. 
During the council meeting, the consensus was support for the venture, although city engineer Mike Moore said that the city needs to be aware that additional resources to maintain the new city facility may be needed once the project is underway and completed. 
The council voted unanimously to move forward with a feasibility study for the proposed project.