Ask someone to meet you at the veterans park in Appleton, and which one will they drive to?
Right now the honest answer is either one. The city has a 143-acre Veterans Memorial Park on East Witzke Boulevard and a 2-acre Veterans Park on South Memorial Drive, and that overlap will last only a few more weeks. On Monday, the Parks and Recreation Committee will recommend a new name for the smaller park. The Common Council makes the final call on Nov. 4.
The rename follows a decision Appleton made over the past 16 months to collect its veterans tributes at one large park. Once that was settled, the small park by the river needed a new identity. The nine finalist names show the choice clearly. Three keep a link to military service. Four name the park for the river, the bluff, the bridge, or the view, and two reach back to city history.
How the Big Park Took the Name
On June 18, 2025, the Appleton Common Council voted 13 to 1 to rename Appleton Memorial Park as Veterans Memorial Park, FOX 11 reported. That resolution went beyond a new sign. It committed the city to a plan for relocating memorials to the park and to working with local veterans groups on the commemoration. The city's written resolution also calls for new memorials honoring conflicts that Appleton doesn't yet represent, along with a dedication ceremony.
During the committee debate a week before that vote, District 9 Alderperson Alex Schultz told FOX 11 the change "gives credence to that space and allows a place for veterans to gather in groups, and to have events." In that same report, John Koehler, a board member of the Fox Valley Veterans Council, described the small park this way: "Our current Veterans Park really doesn't have a whole lot of veterans memorabilia. I think we could do a better job on it." At the time, Parks Director Dean Gazza put the cost of the name change at about $1,000.
The new name became official at a ceremony on Oct. 16, 2025, held beside Scheig Gardens with a presentation of colors and patriotic music.
The large park had the space for this job. The city's park page lists seven softball diamonds, the Miracle League Field, Appleton Family Ice Center, an amphitheater, the Scheig Center and gardens, three playgrounds, a fishing pond, a sled hill, and paved and unpaved trails. The city calls it Appleton's largest and most diverse park.
What the Small Park Actually Is
The park at 1208 S. Memorial Drive sits along the Fox River beside the Memorial Drive bridge. The city's listing describes mature trees, river views, a riverside stroll, a playground, a picnic area, and a portable toilet from May through September. The park's official amenity list doesn't include a monument. A 2025 photo caption in FOX 11's coverage mentions a Veterans Memorial sign.
So the people choosing its next name are naming a neighborhood riverside park with a playground and picnic tables. Its main draw is the view, and it carries a name that now belongs to a park 70 times its size.
From 171 Suggestions to Nine
Appleton Parks & Recreation asked the public for names and set criteria. A suggestion could honor a significant historical figure who has died or a historical event. It could also name an adjacent street, a natural feature, a major donor, the surrounding neighborhood, or someone with outstanding service to the community.
Residents sent in 171 suggestions. After duplicates and ineligible entries were removed, 68 were left. A review team with members from the Mayor's Office, Parks & Recreation, and Community Development then cut the list to nine. The Post-Crescent reported that each finalist got at least three votes from that six-member staff group. When Parks and Recreation Director Tom Flick presented the list, Schultz told him, "You guys had a lot of work to do to get it from 171."
Sorted by theme, the nine finalists fall into three groups, shown below with the nominators' reasoning as the Post-Crescent published it.
| Theme | Finalist | Nominator's case |
|---|---|---|
| Keeps a service link | Freedom Park or Freedom Point Park | Matches the old name, "since that is what our veterans were fighting for" |
| Keeps a service link | Heroes Park | "Let's keep that honor in the new chosen name for the park" |
| Keeps a service link | John Bradley Park or Bradley Park | An Appleton West graduate who appears in one of the most famous photos in American history |
| Names the place | Fox River Park or Fox River Bluff Park | No Appleton park is named after the river, despite how many sit along it |
| Names the place | Riverside Park or Riverview Park | Sits near River Drive, West River Road and South Riverview Lane |
| Names the place | Eagle Ridge Park or Eagle Landing Park | The treetop view over the river, where an eagle may pass overhead |
| Names the place | Memorial Bridge Park or Bridgeview Park | The nominator remembers it by that name from a childhood on Memorial Drive |
| Honors city history | Samuel Appleton Park | The city's namesake |
| Honors city history | Amos Story Park | Described by the nominator as Appleton's first mayor |
The service-themed names include one with a long Appleton history behind it. John Henry Bradley moved to Appleton as a boy and graduated from Appleton High School in 1941. He served as a Navy corpsman at Iwo Jima, earned the Navy Cross, and was one of the six men who raised the second flag there, according to the Marine Corps History Division. Of the nine, Bradley Park is the only option that would keep both a military connection and a specific Appleton person.
The place names make a different case. A child on the playground would be able to explain Fox River Bluff, Riverview, or Bridgeview just by looking around. The Memorial Bridge option suggests a return to an older name. It also carries the one finalist argument based on a resident's memory: "This was [its] name for many years. Why not go back to what it was?"
How to Weigh In Before It's Decided
The city has named two ways to comment:
- Contact your alderperson. The city's Common Council page has a lookup tool.
- Attend the Parks and Recreation Committee meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26, at City Hall. The committee will review the names and vote on a recommendation there.
- Follow the Common Council on Wednesday, Nov. 4, when the council is scheduled to make the final decision.
Earlier TV reports gave Oct. 12 as the decision date. That meeting was the committee's first look at the list. The recommendation comes on the 26th.
Where Appleton's Memorials Will Stand
The bigger change behind the rename is a map of Appleton's tributes, which are currently spread around the city. In June 2025, FOX 11 reported which memorials the city planned to move and which would stay put:
- Staying where they are: the Civil War memorial at Soldiers Square downtown, the doughboy statue, and the recently dedicated Vietnam War Memorial.
- Candidates to move to Veterans Memorial Park: the Gettysburg Address memorial and the Spanish-American War memorial, both now at Pierce Park.
- Possible new additions: memorials for more recent conflicts, plus a pavilion or similar structure near the Scheig Center.
The city's project page says a master plan will lay out future improvements and memorial additions at Veterans Memorial Park, and work is expected to begin in 2026. The plan hasn't been released yet. The relocation list from 2025 is still a list of candidates, not a schedule.
Taken together, this explains why a river overlook on Memorial Drive is getting a new name now. Appleton's formal places for honoring veterans are coming together at Witzke Boulevard and staying downtown at Soldiers Square. The small park's new name will show whether it keeps any of that link to service or becomes simply a park by the river.
Veterans Day falls a week after the council vote. On Wednesday, Nov. 11, Fox Valley Lutheran High School at 5300 N. Meade St. will host a Veterans Day Breakfast & Service from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. for veterans and their families. Breakfast starts at 8:30, and the service begins in the auditorium at 9:25.
If you live near Memorial Drive and the playground and river view are part of your week, the next two weeks are your chance to help decide what the park is called. At C21 Ace, we follow decisions like this one because the names on Appleton's parks end up as the landmarks our neighbors use to give directions. If you have questions about the near south side or anywhere else in the Fox Cities, our agents are glad to talk.
