A recent city land acquisition will put Luverne’s new biking-hiking path in a good position for it’s southern loop around town.
According to action at the July meeting in City Hall, City Council members approved the purchase of 6.59 acres from Julia and Burdell Kruse on the west edge of Luverne.
The Kruses will keep nearly an acre of the original parcel’s 7.55 acres for their backyard, but the rest will be subdivided for the purchase agreement.
The city paid $80,000 for the land, which follows along Poplar Creek and is adjacent to Hawkinson Park. Except for the Kruses’ backyard, the parcel is essentially a long strip of land between Dodge and Luverne streets.
The property is near the point where the Luverne Loop bike and walk path will emerge at the end of Phase 1 of construction.
The first phase is an east west connection between the existing path on Blue Mound Avenue and the western neighborhoods of town along the west edge of the school property.
It ends at Dodge Street near the driveway for the soccer and softballs are west of the district bus garages.
As part of the agreement, the Kruses have granted permission for trail easements through their backyard in order for the Loop to continue south.
“The trail will meander through there, and we’ll likely plan trees and make it more interesting,” said City Administrator John Call. “It will be nice to own this ground, since it’s connected to Hawkinson park.”
He mentioned exercise stations, a Frisbee park and soccer fields as possible recreational developments in that area.
The Kruses had utilized the north end of the parcel for their business selling Sioux quartzite rocks, and they had planted a double row of young evergreens along the east side of the property.
According to Burdell Kruse, he and Julia are now retired, and their inventory of Rock County Prairie Stone was sold with property.
“It was good negotiating with them,” he said of the purchase agreement with the city. “I like the idea that they will probably expand that area into a park.”
The Kruses began selling stones (most recently at 15 cents per pound) in their backyard around 2001, and their inventory has included pieces ranging from 20 pounds to 22,000 pounds.
“There’s a lot of beautiful stone in this county,” Kruse said, adding that local Sioux quartzite has shipped to customers all over the nation, including Florida, New Jersey, New York, Colorado and Texas.
Where did the stones come from? “Rock County,” Kruse said.
But where in Rock County? “From the ground,” he said.
Kruse did say that he developed releationships with local farmers who wanted the stones removed from tillable ground. Those contacts put him in touch with other sources.
Call said many of the stones that the city now owns will be used for trail development, as will the trees.
“The evergreen trees are the perfect size for relocating, and many will be incorporated into the trail,” Call said.
“It is going to be an interesting canvas for the city and for recreation.”