Health group provides substantial donation to Trane Park project

The $6 million All-Abilities Trane Park in La Crosse got a major boost.

The park that will help provide recreational opportunities to kids of all abilities — the first of its kind in the midwest — got a $125,000 donation from Mayo Health System on Monday.

Grand opening for the south side park, that’s been planned for at least six years, is scheduled for July. The nine-acre park broke ground Oct. 3.

It will be equipped with special zones, where visitors can swing, slide, spin and climb.

“We really feel that this park has been unique in its design and collaboration,” Katie Bakke, on the Trane Park committee, said, “with over 40 local health care professionals, education and human resource individuals, along with families themselves, to really meet the needs of these individuals.”

Bakke added that the response and support has been surprising to her, thinking back to the beginning, as the scope of the project has far outgrown the original concept.

“This project began several years ago with a small group of individuals and their families looking for a wonderful space within the community that could really meet the needs of all their children,” Bakke, who is also a therapist at Mayo, said.

While the park will be unique to the midwest, it is also just one of a handful in the U.S. For more on the park, click here.