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Oshkosh City Council to vote on saving Menominee Park Train

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OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — Earlier this month, the Oshkosh Parks Department announced they did not have the budget to continue the Menominee Park Train, but now there's a chance to get the historic ride back on track.

  • City council will vote on Tuesday to allocate $50,000 to keep the train running for one more year.
  • Council member Joe Stephenson says the city will work to find a long-term solution for the train.
  • Adrea Matulle is among the Oshkosh community members fighting to save the train.

(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story, edited for web)

Walking through the empty train station at Menominee Park, Adrea Matulle remembers her childhood.

“Ever since I could like walk, almost I would just come to the train and ride it," she says.

When Matulle heard the train was leaving Oshkosh, she wanted to do something.

“I was like oh I should make a GoFundMe, and it blew up from there," she says.

Matulle's efforts didn’t go unnoticed. After seeing the community push back, council member Joe Stephenson says he worked with his fellow council members to come up with a solution.

“After seeing all the public outcry, I was like hey this is important to other people, not just important to me," he says. "I wanted to make sure we could get this thing back on track.”

At the Tuesday night meeting, the city council will vote on allocating $50,000 to the train.

The money would come from the interest the city has made in loaning out ARPA funding– the COVID relief fund signed into law by former president Joe Biden.

“First step, get the train back up and running, and then over the summer I think we’re going to come up with a long-term plan," Stephenson says.

It's great news for Matulle.

“We really want to save the train," she says. "I think this is a historic part of Oshkosh that needs to be cherished and not just thrown away.”

Oshkosh Parks Director Ray Maurer says there is still not a confirmed funding source for the long-term future of the train.