OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — Oshkosh is saying goodbye to a 43-year-old attraction.
The Oshkosh Parks Department has decided to cut the Menominee Park train from its 2025 budget, causing upset in the community.
Parks director Ray Mauer says the decision was a tough but necessary one, as the entire amusement area had been losing profit for multiple years.
"The whole intent for the amusement area was for the operations to be covering its cost, plus generating some revenue so that when or if these major needs and repairs came, that we had some funding available to help with some of those major costs, and that just hasn't been happening," Mauer says.
The Menominee Park Children's Amusement Center near the zoo used to have several attractions, including a carousel, but many had to be shut down, according to Mauer.
Mauer says similar to the train now, the carousel was in need of major repairs a few years ago.
At the time of the carousel's closure, the Parks Department tried to find a buyer or sponsor for the amusement center, according to Mauer, but there were no interested parties.
Mauer says with even fewer attractions in the center today, it's unlikely there will be a buyer now.
The Menominee Express Train is in need of $50,000 worth of repairs. A local student started a gofundme to try and raise the money.
Many locals have also expressed their disappointment regarding the train's closure, including Tom Unrath, who moved to Oshkosh in 1978.
“It’s great for the community, it’s great for kids," Unrath says. "We should be putting money into this park, because of its location and what it does. It’s well worth it. I mean $50,000 might be a little much, but we could find a way to do it.”
Mauer says money for repairs isn't the only thing needed to keep the train open; staffing and operational issues need to be solved as well.
"The employees there need to be 18 years or older based on the job duties, and trying to find reliable individuals for those operations has been not very easy to do the last couple of years, just like any other business," Mauer says.
To keep the train open, a sponsor or donor would need to pay for each year's operational costs, help find staffing, and pay the $50,000 in repairs.
"All those things, if it would come to fruition, would be some conversations that we'd be willing to have," Mauer says.
Mauer also says he doesn't know exactly what it would cost to run the train annually.
"I don't have all those costs, so I'm not comfortable with sharing that information right now."
