New outdoor “classroom” dedicated at Myrick Park

Seating area built to honor activist who died in 2015

On a drizzly fall morning, friends of a La Crosse woman gathered to dedicate an outdoor “classroom” at Myrick Park that can be enjoyed throughout the year. 

“Karen’s Classroom” is similar to a stone amphitheater recently built in Riverside Park, at the international gardens. 

It honors the memory of Karen Ringstrom, who sat on the city plan commission.

Ringstrom died of cancer two years ago, and she demonstrated against increases in rail traffic near the marsh and a large electronic billboard along Highway 16. 

County supervisor Maureen Freedland says she and other friends of Karen were eager to build something “big” and “important” to honor her near the Myrick education building. 
 
La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat was among dozens of people attending Friday’s ceremony.
 
The outdoor theater faces north into the marsh, and was built with large stones. 

One stone in the center of the platform was specifically cut in the shape of the state of Wisconsin.