Community Park shelter opens

Belgium celebrated the opening of its new and improved Community Park shelter on Sunday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and recognized the contractors, village employees and officials who made it happen.

The project had been five years in the making, Village President Pete Anzia told a crowd of more than 50 from the inside of the shelter.

Posts holding up the old structure, which was built in 1984, began to rot so the village Parks and Recreation Committee decided to replace it.

Bathrooms were added to the concession stand, something people had requested for years, and the stand offers walk-up windows on multiple sides.

Buechler Construction built the structure  and will be constructing a sitting wall, Anzia said. He called it the “nicest park facility in Ozaukee County.”

The project cost about $600,000, including donations of more than $40,000.

Construction began around Labor Day and finished in time for Memorial Day thanks to  support from Mother Nature.

“A bad winter and we wouldn’t be standing here,” Director of Public Works Dan Birenbaum said.