Hatten Park – New London WI

Description

Hatten Park in New London, Wisconsin was developed during the Great Depression and constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). WPA-built structures in the park include Hatten Memorial Stadium, a swimming pool, and stone pillars and walls.

It all began with a discussion in 1935 centered on the community’s desire for a swimming pool. This quickly expanded into the need for a city park, shelter facilities, athletic fields, playgrounds, walking trails, and a stadium. Rolled into this conversation was a need to get people back to work during the height of the Great Depression. It was the creation of the Works Progress Administration that brought the vision of a large park and community space for the City of New London to life. The federal funds coupled with a donation from local citizen and former State legislator William H. Hatten helped the project go from a plan on paper to a reality. By the end, and through a number of changes, what is now known as Hatten Park became a 120 acre jewel in the community that continues to this very day.

The construction of the stone fence enclosing the entire park, as well as the park and buildings that support its activities utilized a labor force of well over 100 men and native stone quarried nearby. Numerous newspaper accounts follow the progress of the park development. Including an October 19, 1937 article in the New London Press Republican in which Frank R. Bell, the WPA Director for District 5, proclaims “The Hatten Recreation Park in this city is not only outstanding among county projects, but is one of the most extensive programs in Wisconsin.”

According to preliminary research, Robert Connelly, city engineer, drafted designs for most of the Hatten Park project including the park shelter, a bath house, field house, various amenities, and tennis courts. Prof. Franz Aust, State Landscape Architect, did the landscaping layout of the park, and local architect and contractor Walter Schoenrock designed and built Hatten Memorial Stadium.

Today the park is still utilized by the citizens of New London. The Hatten Memorial Stadium has been in continuous use since its first baseball game on June 21, 1942 and it still hosts numerous games and events including being the home field for the local Badger Amateur Baseball Association team. Although football is no longer played in the stadium, the baseball diamond, with a deeper field than any major league field, is considered one of the best in the league.