Calder Stadium and the Hart Park Skatepark Took the Same Storm. The Money Came Back to Only One.

This fall, Menasha Bluejays home games happened across the river at Lawrence University's Banta Bowl, while the team practiced on its own field at home. Over in Hart Park, riders kept using what the tornado left behind. WBAY reported that skaters and bikers had turned downed light poles and homemade rails into features.

Both places were wrecked on July 27, and both mean a lot to people on this side of Menasha. Three and a half months later, they are rebuilding at very different speeds, and the difference comes down to who could raise money and how fast.

The same night, two very different losses

WFRV described the July 27 storm as an EF3 tornado. It destroyed the Menasha Skatepark, which had been a gathering spot for skaters of all ages for 24 years. At Nathan Calder Stadium, FOX 11 reported that half of the bleachers were destroyed.

Each project's position heading into winter looks like this:

How Calder's money arrived

Calder got a national audience through T-Mobile's Friday Night 5G Lights contest. Out of nearly 2,500 schools, 40 were picked as division finalists, and each finalist received $25,000. Menasha then had to win the Midwest vote, which ran Oct. 8 through Oct. 25. It wasn't easy. WBAY reported that early in the final week, Menasha was more than 17,000 votes behind a school in Ohio. By late Friday morning, Oct. 23, it led with 246,559 votes.

On Oct. 29, T-Mobile named Menasha its Midwest Division Champion. That added $250,000, along with a Gronk Fitness gym upgrade and "The Big Deal" Student Leadership Award for a student, valued at $5,000. Menasha's pitch to voters was short: "Calder Stadium will prove that no matter what hits it, Menasha rebuilds as one."

The national round ran Oct. 29 through Nov. 8. Menasha faced Buffalo Gap High School in Virginia, Covington High School in Louisiana, and Lakeside High School in Washington. On Nov. 6, WBAY reported that Menasha led the other three finalists by more than 100,000 votes. T-Mobile scheduled the winner announcement for today, Nov. 12. The grand prize is a $1 million football field upgrade and a tailgate celebration.

Whatever today's result, the $275,000 in cash is already Menasha's. Thousands of people voting once a day turned into real rebuild money in about a month.

What the contest money doesn't decide

The prize money doesn't settle how Calder gets rebuilt. The district has already made that choice. Project manager Ben Samolinski told FOX 11 in September that the team was working from the stadium's original 1963 plans and has "to build it to its original condition." Miron had already removed the collapsed bleacher sections and storm debris and fenced off the work zone.

David Elliott, the district's Supervisor of Facilities and Safety, gave FOX 11 the goal: "a target of making sure our kids are playing games next football season." In October, head coach Jeramie Korth told FOX 11 the repairs would cost several million dollars. He hoped the stadium would be ready next fall but said the timing wasn't certain.

Set against a bill of several million dollars, $275,000 is a meaningful down payment, not a full rebuild. Still, the stadium has a plan to work from, a contractor on site, and a target season. The skatepark has none of those yet.

The skatepark's math

The Hart Park skatepark was always a community project. Neighbor Debbie Wenzel told WBAY the park "was built by children," crediting Chris Murphy and his original skate park crew with pushing for it. The Chris Murphy Memorial Fund, run by the Murph Comp organization, still supports the City of Menasha's upkeep and improvement of the park.

Before the storm, the park was due for a renovation in 2030. The tornado moved that need up by several years without bringing any funding along. The proposed replacement is concrete, which organizers told WBAY would be low-maintenance for the parks department and built to last. They estimated the cost at about $1.5 million. Murph Comp has started a new design, with Colton Dumke as lead designer.

Dumke explained to WFRV what the loss means day to day. Kids used to "come out here and skate around, or go in the skate shop and hang out" every day after school, and "that's not as much of an option" now.

The GoFundMe went up Sept. 17. As of early November 2026, it showed $1,820 from 23 donors toward an $80,000 goal. Even if it reaches that goal, it would cover only about a twentieth of the estimated cost. Organizers told WBAY they're looking for business partners to help close the gap.

December 15 is where both projects show up

The two rebuilds will appear side by side in one city process. The Menasha Strong Recovery Plan is being prepared by the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Menasha, with support from the city and Vandewalle & Associates. It covers five focus areas:

• 3rd Street Corridor
• Doty Island
• Jefferson Park area
• Hart Park area
• Calder Stadium area

The plan is also designed to help Menasha compete for state, federal, and private recovery money. That matters most for a project like the skatepark, which so far has mostly neighbors behind it.

At the Oct. 29 open house, Mayor Austin Hammond told FOX 11 that housing remains the top priority. Community Development Director Andrew Dane described ideas the city is considering, including pre-approved building plans that would speed up permits for rebuilding homeowners. He said all examples stay hypothetical until the plan is adopted. The city is also looking at zoning updates and a possible tax incremental financing district.

The draft plan goes public at an open house on Tuesday, Dec. 15. The Redevelopment Authority and Common Council are scheduled to consider the final plan in January 2027.

Ways to back either rebuild

1. Skatepark donations: give through the Chris Murphy Memorial Fund or the GoFundMe.
2. The Dec. 15 open house: go see the draft Menasha Strong plan for the Hart Park and Calder Stadium areas. Check menasha-strong.org for the time and location.
3. Redevelopment Authority meetings: agendas and materials are posted on the city's RDA page.
4. Questions about the plan: contact Andrew Dane at 920-967-3651 or [email protected].

We're Fox Cities neighbors too, and we'll be following both Calder's bleachers and Hart Park's concrete as Menasha rebuilds. If you have questions about how the recovery plan might affect your block, or want to talk through repair-or-sell decisions on a storm-affected home, Kelly Davies Homes is happy to help. Contact Us.