Putting Green prepares for opening

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Like a lot of people, Dr. Laurel Gamm was doing yardwork outside on a sunny Saturday morning.

But unlike many, Gamm wasn't toiling away in the backyard behind her house.

Instead, she was working with about a dozen volunteers and county jail inmates, planting trees and helping construct a stream that will run through the first nine holes of the Putting Green Environmental Adventure Park.

The course, which is Gamm's brainchild, was designed in 2001 by local school children around several environmental themes. Ground for the project was broken this spring.

Since then, the cement for the nine-hole course was poured and a few of the obstacles for the holes are in place. Saturday's workers concentrated on planting species of plants that naturally grow along the river, such as river birches and willow trees.

Gamm says the park, which sits beside the Minnesota River on five acres of city-owned park land near Valley and 20th South streets, is "about 85 percent finished."

A handful of volunteers, a small contingent of inmates on one of Brown County's two Sentence To Serve crews and Gamm arrived at the site around 8:30 a.m. They spent most of the day hauling rocks, digging holes and shoveling dirt in preparation for the final grading on Monday and finished around 3 p.m. Work is expected to continue in order to prepare the Putting Green for its 'not-so-open house' on Oct. 7.

Future plans include two more phases that could add more holes and an educational center, depending upon the Putting Green's fundraising efforts, said Gamm, later adding that the second and third phases have little or no urgency.

"This is essentially a blank canvas and we have lots of opportunities for people to get involved," said Gamm.

Citing an example, she pointed to a patch of grass near the intersection with a couple of hay bales sitting on it. In the future, it will be a rain garden that will help cleanse the water that runs off from the parking lot as it comes into the pounds around the course and drains into the river.

As fall advances, more landscaping will be added, since there are some native plants that can't go into the ground until later this year, she said.

In addition to the political and financial snags the Putting Green has had in recent years, Gamm said other challenges lie in delivering an excellent experience for the park's grand opening and continuing to develop stronger fundraising efforts.

So far, the park is on track to meet its projected $1.2 million pricetag. Gamm said she expects all three phases to be finished by 2006.

To help with Saturday's efforts, Gamm called the Putting Green's board chair and was able to put an STS crew to work, said crew leader Don Klaviter, who brought five inmates out to the Putting Green on Saturday.

The five inmates that came with Klaviter were sentenced to spend time in jail and were allowed the option of working for STS instead of paying off a fine. Klaviter said STS is sometimes the only option the county has to collect fines from some inmates.

Sentence To Serve is a program of the Minnesota Department of Corrections although Brown County pays for half of the group's expenses.

The Putting Green is the latest on STS's list of local projects, which also include some landscaping at the Brown County courthouse, the fresh coat of paint inside Sleepy Eye's ice arena and the pavers in Nehl's Park.

Although STS typically works with government bodies like the county and various city councils, it periodically does work for non-profit agencies like the Putting Green from time to time and cannot work on private property unless it is doing some type of disaster relief work, Klaviter said.

"We've got a real good group here today," he said. "These guys like working."