Riverlife Park in Wausau. Image courtesy: WAOW TV
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — There will be no regular concession offerings in Wausau’s Rivelife Park for now, but the department will put up a Hail Mary for a short-term agreement to offer limited snacks and beverages later this year.
City and County Parks, Recreation, and Forestry Director Jamie Polley says it’s too late to find a regular operator. “Even two weeks ago, mid-May, we were still in the process of hiring our staff for the summer, positions that we knew about or that we were obligated to [hire] like the pools. So, us running it is still possible, but we still need to fill other positions first. And the concession building doesn’t have any equipment in it so some would have to be purchased or rented.”
Council President Lisa Rasmussen said it’s still important to have some offerings, even if it isn’t prepared foods and ice cream. “Just packaged snacks and drinks. That would take the strain off your staff if they could come in and offer that as a companion operation to an existing business or something short-term.
“Bagged snacks and packaged beverages, where there doesn’t need to be any prep,” added Rasmussen.
Polley says she did receive some interest from outside groups after it became known that the previous operator would not be able to deliver this year, but none of those discussions were serious. “One was a short-term [fix.] One was a corporate concessionaire that does this around the country, I didn’t get more detail from them. One was [interested] in a temporary business there, but that would also take infrastructure.”
Alders did seem open to allowing food trucks to operate in the park on special occasions. Rasmussen said that as more residential units come online in the area, it could be something that residents would like to see in the future. “I’m not committed to ‘we must have ice cream down there.’ I think it’s important to have it in the future. We’ve had it in the past, and it was very popular. But I would like to see us have at least some offerings.
“If we wanted to entertain the idea of food trucks, [we should] start that as a pop-up, where everyone knows it is going to be this day and this day, food trucks are available. Come on over. Just to see what the interest might be, gauge the popularity. Get a couple of pop-ups, see how people like that,” added Rasmussen.
Rasmussen also said the department could get by with some prepackaged snacks and beverages on the weekends or times when foot traffic is the greatest.
Polley also confirmed that the department plans to prepare a new Request for Proposals for a regular operator in 2026 and beyond.
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