PRESCOTT – On July 27, the Great River Road officially received an All-American road designation through the National Scenic Byways program at a ceremony held at Freedom Park in Prescott. The process of achieving this status took several months of planning and proposals.

The Great River Road Visitor & Learning Center was given the space at Freedom Park in the early 2000s, as well as a grant of $1.7 million from the federal Scenic Byways program, to build the visitor center; because of the grant, the park itself became connected to the Great River Road Network.

Israel Haas, the executive director of

Photo by Melissa Thorud GREAT RIVER ROAD

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Friends of Freedom Park said, “Because the Great River Road was routed through Prescott, we received $1.7 million from the Federal Scenic Byways program to create the Wisconsin Great River Road Learning and Visitor’s Center and it required us to match $440,000 of donations, so the Friends of Freedom Park organization was created to help raise those funds and we have been involved making this space the best it can be ever since.”

Haas outlined the history that Freedom Park and the Visitor Center has had with Wisconsin’s Great River Road. The Visitor Center has been operating for 15 years after the grant provided the funds to build a place for tourists to visit while traveling the Great River Road.

“The Great River Road put us on the map, and we are very proud to be part of the Great River Road network,” Haas said. “We have had over 180,000 visitors over the last 15 years; we have engaged with people from every state in the United States and from 53 countries and counting. This is truly a treasure and a gem here in Prescott.”

The Friends of Freedom Park had a big hand in helping to propose and plan for the Wisconsin Great River Road to achieve the new All-American Road status. Maureen Otwell, the original executive director of the program, attended the ceremony and extended her thanks to the Mississippi River Parkway Commission.

“I am so happy to finally be able to say thank you to the commissioners,” Otwell said. “I cannot tell you how much this kind of funding and support means to local communities. The Friends of Freedom Park welcomed me with open arms when I moved here in 2003 and asked me to be their first executive director. They did fabulous work with this project and the miracle of this funding is that it goes into these local places and that is invaluable. My sincere thanks to the commission and thanks on behalf of the Prescott City Council.”

Sherry Quamme, Chairperson for the Wisconsin Mississippi River Parkway Commission, led the ceremony.

“This is a celebration of a great achievement,” Quamme said. “Wisconsin is one of 15 newly designated All-American roads and is Wisconsin’s only All-American road. February 2020 the Federal Highway Administration’s National Scenic Byway program opened their application process for the first time since 2012 and we immediately connected with our partners and our committees said to go for it.”

Several people who contributed to the proposal of making the Great River Road an All-American road destination were in attendance. Friends of Freedom Park member Jim Shiely also spoke at the ceremony.

Joe Folsom, Executive Director of Pierce County Economic Development Corporation (EDC), provided some information about how the county’s economic development was also being impacted positively by this new designation status. The Pierce County EDC is launching new projects to help draw more tourism to the new All-American road.

“We want Pierce County to be the highlight of your Great River Road experience,” Folson said. “Pierce County EDC in collaboration with a coalition of tourism partners and with the assistance of the Department of Tourism’s destination marketing grant, we have kicked off a project called ‘The Backroads of Pierce County’ and I am pleased to announce that we have released our first itinerary on our website.”

The program aims to release itineraries that highlight special parts of Pierce County along the Great River Road. The itineraries list businesses, picturesque venues and services that are available.

“We want to help folks travel the All-American Great River Road as well as backroads throughout Pierce County,” Folsom said.

The itineraries can be found at www.backroadspiercecounty. com.

The ceremony ended with a ribbon cutting and presentation of a proclamation from Gov. Tony Evers. The proclamation congratulated everyone involved during the process of becoming an All-American Scenic Byway. The proclamation document is on display at Freedom Park and the Great River Road Visitor Center (200 Monroe St.) The proclamation states, “The Great River Road Connects resources, people and history and is a key economic driver for the region and status will undoubtedly bring new attention to the Wisconsin Great River Road, attracting more visitors to cities, towns, museums and interpretive centers along the way. This designation is well deserved and exemplifies why so many people across the United States choose to experience the Wisconsin Great River Road every year.”

Photo by Melissa Thorud

Sherry Quamme presents the proclamation from Gov. Evers to Maureen Otwell, current Prescott City Council alderperson and former executive director of Friends of Freedom Park.