City of Sun Prairie to switch name to “Fun Prairie” for July

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Sun Prairie is putting the fun in summer, literally. The city will be changing its name for the month of July, adopting the title of “Fun Prairie.”

July is also Parks and Recreation Month, and the name is a nod to all the activities one can enjoy in Sun Prairie in the summer, according to Parks, Recreation, & Forestry Director Kristin Grissom.

“Sun Prairie just has a wealth of different opportunities for people to get out and have fun, whether it’s free, whether it’s something you pay to do, there is no shortage of things to do Sun Prairie - in Fun Prairie,” she said. “That’s really what we’re trying to do is just highlight all of those things.”

Among those things are the city’s aquatic center, which reopens Wednesday, the new splashpad, which will be open in July, and activities like movies, concerts, and visits to the museum.

The “Fun Prairie” name is meant to highlight all the options both community members and visitors can explore in the summer months.

“For those of us here in the city, the city invests a lot of money in these programs, the facilities, and we want people to be able to see them but also enjoy them and use them,” said Mayor Paul Esser. “It’s a way to highlight them and make people aware of it.”

After a challenging year during the pandemic, the hope is also that these attractions will bring in visitors, and encourage people to support local businesses.

“For people from outside of the area who are looking for something to do, we would love them to come here,” Esser said. “Spend the day in Fun Prairie, having a good time, maybe going to the restaurants, the shopping.”

Esser said this kind of fun is needed after a year navigating a pandemic.

“I think we need it, coming out of the pandemic, all the isolation from last year,” Esser said. “Our aquatic center never opened last year, the parks - none of the organized programs occurred. This year everything is opening up, people can be together, especially if they’ve been vaccinated. I think everybody’s ready for some fun.”

“People are excited to get out, we’ve got our, like I said, we have our pool reopening, we have our splashpad opening,” Grissom said. “It just felt really natural like this is the year, we’re back to doing the things that we were used to doing and we so craved last year.”

The proclamation announcing the name change for the month of July will be issued at a City Council meeting on Tuesday night. The city will also release additional information about activities in July on their website on June 27.

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