Guest Columnist: Firemen's Park - Story that needs to be told

Dick Lano

By Leonard "Dick" Lano 

With all the talk about Fireman’s Park these days, I think it’s time to tell how it all began. I believe I am one of only two living members of the original fire department that started the project.

It started in 1953 or so, when Ben “Butch” Knocks was fire chief. He owned and operated a gas station on Highway 212, just west of the brick house. Behind his station and the lake stood two brick kilns which remained many years after the making of bricks ceased.

The kilns were empty and deteriorating amid a landscape that was overgrown in weeds, vines and brush. I distinctly remember how the kilns were covered with vines. The entire area was a mess - everyone called it the jungle. The kids of the era would say they were going to the jungle to play.

At one fire department meeting, Chief Kocks mentioned that he was tired of looking at the mess, so he suggested the firemen make it a project to clean it up. With permission from the Klein Brothers, the firemen thought that it was a good idea, so on weekends the firemen started clearing the weeds and trash so they could get to the kilns. The kilns were round, domed brick buildings about 25 feet in diameter and 15 feet high. They were used to dry newly formed bricks.

The structured bricks of the kilns had begun to crumble, so pickaxes, shovels and other tools were used to raze the kilns. After many hours of hard labor, down they came. Initially we thought we would clean up only the west part of the park. But then we found we had no place to put the bricks. So, with the cooperation of the Kleins, they loaned us a bulldozer which was used to push the bricks and trash to the eastern part, which was low and soggy. This was all accomplished the first summer.

The following January, Chief Kocks was killed in a car accident, and I was named the new fire chief. I continued the transformation of the old brick manufacturing factory to a city park.

Just north of the garden center stood a chimney about 75 feet high, 10 feet in diameter at the bottom and about 5 feet in diameter at the top. We needed to dismantle this chimney, so we chiseled a large hole at the bottom on the north side hoping it would topple down like a tree, but no such luck.

The weekend we were to take it down was the highlight of the community. Everyone was going to watch us remove it, but they were curious about what system would be used to accomplish it.

That Friday evening I received a call from what seemed to be a local pub as noise and laughter could be heard in the background. I was told to come to the park because there was something to see. Upon arriving, it was obvious that the chimney was down. Four of my friends were there. One worked for NSP installing tall transmission towers, the second was a road contractor, the third owned a bar, and the fourth was a fireman.

Yes, they brought the chimney down, along with a few broken windows on the south side of highway 212. People were so happy to see the work progressing on the park that we never got a bill for the broken windows.

Each weekend thereafter, we continued to move more brick. Almost every Sunday morning, Mr. C.H. Klein would invite me to his home to discuss the project and ask me what equipment would be needed. I responded that two dump trucks and a bulldozer were needed, so on the following Saturday that equipment would be available at the project site along with the drivers and operators.

Many tons of dirt were hauled from the clay hole east of Highway 41 where Cooper’s Store is now located. The dirt was needed to cover the brick rubble. One Sunday morning an extra bulldozer was needed, so down Highway 41 came a semitrailer truck loaded with a bulldozer from John Lano Construction Company along with his son, Sonny, and nephew, Bob Schug, to operate it.

Back then, heavy equipment could not be transported on Minnesota highways on Sundays, so John was asked who would pay the fine if he was caught. He responded that no one in authority would have the guts to come to Chaska to see what was taking place – and no one did.

Another incident that occurred about that time involved Len Ohnsorg Sr., who had a truck building business across Highway 41, just opposite from where their building is now. He purchased the lot from the Kleins. There was another kiln on the on that lot. The kiln was encircled with steel bands that had become rusty. During the process of dismantling the kiln, he was on a ladder cutting the bands with a torch and one band sprung loose and threw him and the ladder to the ground. Mr. Ohnsorg was injured, but recovered quickly.

There are so many people to thank for creating the park, most of whom are deceased now. This is a Fireman’s park and the city’s park. There are many fond memories of all the hard volunteer work that created this park.

When the park was in the final stages of completion, a fund raiser was needed to raise some vital money. Willie Heger came up with the idea of holding a fishing contest, so contests were held for two years on Lake Bavaria. Carpenters in the fire department built a shelter building. Later the contest was moved to the Clay Hole, where it is presently held.

Another aspect of the park was building the beach at the Clay Hole. The Clay Hole banks were steep and vertical, and needed many tons of sand brought in. The sand was pushed down by high pressure fire hoses to create a beach.

This is quite a long story about how a park and swimming beach were created in the center of Chaska by volunteer help. How many other small cities can boast of a similar facility that benefits their citizenry as much as this? So please don’t spoil the story by selling this property to a private developer.

In 1962, my business took me to Norwood, where I presently make my home. Every time I drive through Chaska, I look at the Fireman’s Park and I think about how proud I am that I had a role in creating and building this marvelous facility. Thank you for having the patience to read this long letter. I thought the story needed to be told.

Leonard “Dick” Lano, of Norwood Young America, is the former chief of the Chaska Fire Department.

Read a related story about the history of Firemen's Park here.