Property Record
THE SQUARE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | |
|---|---|
| Other Name: | THE SQUARE |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 10351 |
| Location (Address): | THE SQUARE |
|---|---|
| County: | Walworth |
| City: | Walworth |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
| Section: | |
| Quarter Section: | |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: |
| Year Built: | 1909 |
|---|---|
| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 20102024 |
| Historic Use: | park |
| Architectural Style: | NA (unknown or not a building) |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
|---|---|
| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | 1974:CENTER OF DOWNTOWN WALWORTH 2024: Heyer Park dates to 1909 and is a flat, open block with a few trees, several groupings of bushes and some decorative plantings. It is framed by Madison Street on the north, Park Street on the west, Beloit Street on the south and N. Main Street on the east. The structural element in the park is a stone fountain crowned by a sculpture of two geese in flight. The park was notable for a band stand having been built among a grove of trees in 1909. That feature was removed and replaced in 1930 by another band stand that is now gone as well. It is uncertain specifically when the latter stand was demolished, but it could have been in the late 1960s (see Figure 6). The only feature of consequence in the park today is the fountain/sculpture identified as “Geese-in-flight.” It was designed in 1968 by Howard Rohner who was identified in the 1950 census as a 28-year old farmer in the Town of Walworth. His grandson, Chuck, confirmed in a telephone conversation that Howard was a farmer who did some sculpturing as a hobby. The only other sculpture by his grandfather of which Chuck was aware is displayed at the Big Foot High School in Walworth. Rohner’s geese sculpture and its fountain were completed and installed in June 1969, though several newspaper accounts suggest that the project was finalized in 1972 by Edwin P. Heyer. Rohner subsequently died in 1975. The sculpture was situated in the middle of the park until November of 2001 when it was hit and destroyed by an errant vehicle that departed Highway 14, traveled through the park, and hit the fountain. Reported the Lake Geneva Regional News, “the fountain’s flagstone bowl and pedestal were destroyed in the accident. The pair of geese that stood atop the pedestal fell onto the remainder of the rubble. One of the geese heads broke off as well.” Another Regional News article noted later that the accident had “destroyed the fountain.” It was ultimately decided, after dealing with various issues and lawsuits, to reconstruct the fountain and restore the geese. In so doing, and to accommodate the possible construction of a pavilion in the northeast corner of the park the fountain and geese were relocated away from the park’s center to a location in its southwest corner. Discussions that suggested some acrimony between parties in this relocation matter continued well into 2003. Predicated on what is in the park today, it is apparent that the fountain and geese were indeed reconstructed and restored in the southwest corner of the park. It further seems that the proposed pavilion was never built. |
|---|---|
| Bibliographic References: | .The Village of Walworth, Wisconsin: A Historical Walking Tour of the Downtown Area. The Historical Society of Walworth and Big Foot Prairie, Inc. Complied by Nancy Alberth Lehman, 2007. .“Architecture/History Survey: Reconstruct USH 14: Illinois State Line To I-43.” WHS project number 11-0524/WL. July 2010, rechecked February 2011. Heritage Research, Ltd. .Walworth (WI) Sesquicentennial, 25 June 1987: Section 2, page 14 .U.S. Federal Census, 1950 .“Fly Right Away,” Janesville (WI) Daily Gazette, 24 June 1969 .“Family Addresses Fountain Issue,” The Lake Geneva (WI) Regional News: 28 August 2003 .Lisa Seiser, “Car Hits Village Park Fountain,” The Lake Geneva (WI) Regional News: 08 November 2001 .Chuck Rohner, Howard Rohner’s Grandson, Telephone conversation .Lisa Seiser, “Board sets Locations for Fountain, Pavilion,” The Lake Geneva (WI) Regional News: 12 September 2002 .“WBC Starts Park Fund,” The Lake Geneva (WI) Regional News: 10 October 2002 |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |