“Nightmare on Ale Street” raises money for North Liberty Centennial Park

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On a spooky afternoon, the city of North Liberty moved closer to its $3.5 million fundraising goal and continues to host community fundraisers for the advancement of Centennial Park.

To reach its fundraising goal, the city hosted “Nightmare on Ale Street,” a craft beer, cider and wine tasting fundraiser on Saturday afternoon.

Centennial Park was originally purchased by the city in 2010 to secure green space for future growth, said Jillian Miller, assistant director of community relations for North Liberty. Over the years it has been expanded with parking, paths and a playground.

In 2022, the city redefined Centennial Park’s future after conducting a comprehensive 2021 community survey and finding that North Liberty had doubled in size since 2010.

“We hear from many community impact contributors that they want more placemaking. They wanted more meeting spaces,” Miller said. “They wanted more investment in parks and saw real value in this.”

In total, the project is estimated to cost $16 million. The city has set a goal of raising $3.5 million to support the capital campaign. They currently stand at $2.4 million.

Construction of the park will occur in four phases, the first of which occurred in July and will see the completion of the event center, amphitheater, outdoor restrooms, expanded plaza space and necessary utilities to support future phases. Phase one is scheduled to be completed by fall 2025 and the event center will begin accepting reservations from the public in November 2025.

Phase two, which the city hopes to begin soon, includes a splash pad, an expanded playground with wheelchair-accessible play equipment and a shelter.

Phase three will begin shortly after the completion of phase two and will see the construction of a pavilion. It all ends with phase four, a garden of honor and additional parking.

“While there are still shovels in the ground, we have not yet reached our final goal for the overall vision of the park,” Miller said. “We constantly receive $50 gifts, $10 gifts, $500 gifts, $1,000 gifts from residents and businesses. It all adds up and just makes this vision a collaborative effort.”

“Nightmare on Ale Street,” held in Centennial Park, served as a new fundraiser to support the capital campaign. With 10 different alcohol vendors on site, attendees could spend their afternoon getting silly and spooky.

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Participants were also invited to take part in the costume competition and compete for the funniest, scariest and most original costumes. They even had the opportunity to sign a beam on site that will eventually be part of the event center.

Since the event took place around the park under construction, participants were able to get an overview of the progress of the first phase.

“No matter what amount we make, we’re just happy to have an event that gets people talking, gets people excited and actually an event where we can bring them to the park and see the construction going on,” Miller said.

North Liberty resident Lori Frost remembers when Centennial Park was first purchased and built in 2010, and she was amazed at how far the park has come since then.

“It will be cool to have the amphitheater and the entertainment, and I’m sure there will be more growth,” Frost said.

Brandie Thein, real estate agent and event sponsor for Urban Acres, was on hand to check in attendees and appreciated the community’s support.

“I love this park,” she said. “I love any kind of outdoor entertainment, especially when it involves new live music. I’m really excited that I could be a part of it. It’s fantastic.”