City designates land at Riverside Park

By Scott Bellile

A new gazebo in Riverside Park will offer park users a new facility while paying tribute to two young adult brothers who died in accidents a couple years apart.

In two separate votes on Dec. 11, the New London City Council approved 9-0 to accept the gazebo gift from the Stilen family and to dedicate the public land where the former city garage stood as an extension of Riverside Park. Third District Alderwoman Lori Dean was absent.

A demolition crew tears down New London’s former municipal garage building on May 11, 2017. The former garage site will be home to a new gazebo donated by the Stilen family.
Scott Bellile file photo

The gazebo will be situated on the eastern portion of the old city garage property toward The Waters Supper Club, near a utility pole so the structure can be wired with electricity.

Having the gazebo at Riverside Park will offer visibility from West Wolf River Avenue and public parking space, unlike a location originally proposed in River Trail Park behind Community First Credit Union, according to New London Public Services Director Chad Hoerth.

“That’s going to be a great addition to that area down there,” Mayor Gary Henke said of the gazebo after the city council’s vote.

The $23,000 gazebo was completely funded by the Stilen family. The gazebo kit was transported to New London from Michigan in November, and it could be built next spring, Margie Stilen, mother of the late Gregory L. Stilen Jr. and Jonathon R. Stilen, told the Press Star.

Gregory was killed in a motorcycle crash on U.S. Highway 45 at the age of 26 on July 14, 2015.

Less than three years later, Jonathon died at the age of 30 on May 25, 2018, during a logging accident near Amherst.

Jonathon had helped the family raise funds for the gazebo when the project started several years ago as just a tribute to Gregory.

Gregory Stilen Jr.

“It’s been really, really hard,” Margie said of life without her sons. “We made the memorial in memory of both the boys because we no way expected anything to happen to Jonathon. And when it did, it was really hard on the family. But it really brought everybody closer together, especially during the tournament.”

The tournament Margie referred to is the Greg Stilen Jr. Memorial Bass Tournament, an annual Labor Day fishing event at Riverside Park that has raised funds for the gazebo since 2015. Margie said many friends and family members came together to help run the tournament and donate to the cause.

The fishing tournament will continue in memory of the brothers, Margie said. Future proceeds may go toward improvements at Riverside Park or aesthetic enhancements to the gazebo.

Jonathon Stilen

“We can have benches put around the outside if we wanted to, we can have gables or we can even have a cutout that says ‘New London’ around it,” Margie said of the gazebo.

The 24-foot-wide gazebo will contain antique white pillars with a regal blue roof.

“I think it’s going to be really pretty out there. … I’m going to be so happy to see it up,” Margie said.

The city council’s acceptance of the Stilens’ donation includes a condition that the family must sign an agreement stating the city makes all decisions regarding the gazebo’s use. Failure to sign means the city will decline the gift altogether.

Henke suggested the condition at the Dec. 4 meeting of the New London Parks and Recreation Committee in response to a dispute with the New London Veterans Memorial Foundation.

The veterans memorial foundation donated a memorial to Taft Park last year. During the same Dec. 4 parks and recreation committee meeting, the foundation requested authority to approve all activities held at Taft Park “to maintain proper respect” for veterans and the memorial. The committee took no action on the foundation’s request.

“I think we need a written agreement from the Stilens that [the gazebo] will become city [property] and this park board will make any decisions as far as renting it out,” Henke said. “I mean, I’m thinking it would be a good place, a nice place for a wedding. If a couple wants to get married down there, all of the sudden we’re going to have somebody coming in and saying, ‘I don’t want any weddings in my gazebo.’”

Asked by the Press Star what she thinks of having weddings at the gazebo, Margie said, “Oh, yeah, it’d be awesome for weddings.”