The upper level of Mt. Simon Park at 1100 Addison Ave. has a new playground, an 18-hole disc golf course winding past it, and trails toward the bluffs and the overlook neighbors call Top of the World, above the Chippewa River. What it lacks is a place to wash your hands. As Volume One reported in September, the nearest restroom for a family at that playground is a quarter-mile or more away. The Northside Hill Neighborhood Association set out to close that gap this year. Its fundraising campaign pays for a specific restroom building made in Chippewa Falls. Turning that building into a working restroom depends on a second partner the neighbors don't control.

A New Playground Made the Walk Longer

The gap showed up because of a gift. In October 2025, WEAU reported that the City of Eau Claire had received $300,000 from the Jane Honadel Estate for Mt. Simon. The City put the money toward new playground equipment and a pavilion, and said the pavilion would be built the following year.

Community Services Director Lane Berg told WQOW that Honadel wanted "something that children in the area could use for generations to come." During construction, Recreation Division Manager Patrick Newkirk told WQOW that the site would also get new benches and an ADA-compliant sidewalk. Some of the old equipment was donated to the Chippewa Falls YMCA.

That upgrade changed how the upper park gets used. On its restroom project page, the neighborhood association says the playground "has brought fresh energy" to an area that already had trails, ballfields, open space and access to the bluffs. The association also says the park's existing restroom sits in the lower portion of Mt. Simon, "a significant walk" from the new equipment. A playground gets families to stay for an afternoon. Without a restroom close by, that afternoon is shorter.

What $70,000 Buys

The association has a specific building in mind. It plans to buy a Huffcutt Lynx, a prefabricated restroom made by Huffcutt Concrete in Chippewa Falls. According to the project page, the building comes with:

• Construction: precast concrete, roof included, with a 20-year structural warranty
• Footprint: about 12 feet 2 inches by 10 feet 4 inches
• Fixtures: a flushing porcelain toilet, a urinal, a sink and an electric water heater
• Accessibility: designed to meet ADA requirements, with stainless-steel grab bars and an ADA-compliant threshold
• Lighting: interior and exterior LED lights, a motion sensor and exhaust ventilation

Most of the building is assembled and finished at Huffcutt's plant, then trucked to the park and set in place by crane. So the restroom for this north-side park would be built in a neighboring Chippewa Valley city and arrive mostly in one piece.

The Part the Campaign Doesn't Cover

This detail explains the campaign's timeline. The association says its $70,000 goal covers "the restroom building, its delivery, and its placement at Upper Mt. Simon." Water and sewer connections, electrical service, site preparation and final hookups are a separate list. The association hopes the City of Eau Claire will cover or coordinate that work once the community has raised money for the building.

So far that is a plan, and the City has not made a commitment. In May, WEAU reported that the group "will ask the city for help with the plumbing" and hoped to start building the next year, which means 2027. The association's own wording is direct. Raising the building money "would put us in a much stronger position to work with the City" on the remaining infrastructure. At Upper Mt. Simon, neighbors are paying for the building first so they have something concrete to bring to the City.

Where the Money Has Come From

The campaign has grown through events of different sizes. These are the totals the association has posted:

The Mt. Simon Classic grew quickly. The association says only nine players had registered the Friday morning before the event. By tee time the field had reached 42, and a few players were turned away once it filled. As of late October, the project page showed $22,738.14 raised toward the $70,000 goal, or about 32 percent. That figure counts the GoFundMe total and the Classic but not the Party for the Parks proceeds.

Local sponsors listed on the page include Brickhouse Pub & Grub, Westconsin Credit Union, Parco Windows, L3 Landscaping, Clear Water Disc Golf, Computer Wizards, Fresh Software, Uncommon Rentals, Donivan's Vending and The Eagles Club.

Why December 31 Matters Most

The $70,000 is the overall goal. The year-end deadline is what could move the project forward soonest. As WEAU reported on September 1, an anonymous local donor committed $15,000 and challenged the community to raise another $15,000 by December 31, 2026. If the match is met, that's $30,000, or about 43 percent of the full goal, in one step. The association counted the Classic's $1,200 toward that challenge.

The donor told WEAU why the project matters to them:

"Mt. Simon is a beautiful two-tier park that we all can enjoy, but it should have a restroom near the new playground."

In the same statement, the donor said they value parks more as a senior citizen than they did as a child, because parks help them stay "socially engaged, physically and mentally fit, resilient, independent and just plain joyful." That fits the association's own case. The project page names families with young children and older adults as the visitors who feel the distance to the lower park most.

How to Get Involved Before Year's End

For neighbors who want to do more than give online, the association meets in person. Its Quarterly General Meeting is Wednesday, November 18, from 6 to 7 p.m. at Brickhouse Pub & Grub, and a virtual steering committee check-in follows on Wednesday, December 16. Events chair Daniel Kraft told WEAU that the group started five years ago and asked the community which park amenities it wanted. Donations go through the project's GoFundMe. Businesses interested in sponsorships or in-kind support can contact the association through its Facebook page.

The park itself offers disc golf, hiking trails, volleyball and ballfields across its two levels, with hikers heading toward the bluffs. After this year's turnout, the association has hinted that the Mt. Simon Classic will likely be back next year. Association president Andrew Niese summed up the effort to Volume One: "Parks are cornerstones of the neighborhood, they're what make our city great."

Projects like the one at Upper Mt. Simon are part of what makes Northside Hill feel like home to the people who live there. Wanda Johnson has spent more than 30 years helping Chippewa Valley families settle near parks like this one. If you'd like to talk about life on Eau Claire's north side, whether you're staying put, downsizing or getting ready for a move, Wanda is glad to sit down with you. Work With Wanda by scheduling a consultation.