Myrick duck pond project could be built this summer

When the Myrick Park Zoo in La Crosse was shut a decade ago, the old duck pond disappeared with only the duck house remaining.

Now, however, the pond is on the way to being resurrected and improved, possibly this year.

“They just filled in, when they tore the original duck pond out of there, they just filled it in with dirt,” volunteer project manager Jon Papenfuss said. “So we have a concrete structure, basically, underground, and plumbing, that needs to come out.

Strupp Excavating of Onalaska will donate labor and equipment to install the new concrete pond.

Papenfuss said the cost of restoring the duck pond, which was built in 1939, has been reduced from an estimated $300,000 to $206,000 and that fans of the old Myrick Zoo have been eager to donate.

If the fundraising meets its goal, the pond could be ready for summer and Papenfuss says it will have clear water and colorful fish

“It’s going to be quite the project,” he said. “We got approval from the Historical Society. Basically, it’s going to look aesthetically the same as it did back in the day.”

Papenfuss says he only needed two minutes on the phone with Bill Strupp of Strupp Excavating to get an agreement to donate materials and labor.

He says the Strupp family used to live very close to the Myrick Zoo.