The St. Charles County Parks and Recreation Department is celebrating the completion of Broemmelsiek Park near Defiance, a 494-acre park development that preserves the natural beauty of St. Charles County. The public is invited to join in the celebration by attending a ribbon cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 29, at Broemmelsiek Park, located at 1795 Highway DD, Defiance, MO 63341. The park is named in honor of Jack and Betty Broemmelsiek, who lived on the property for more than 30 years and dedicated their lives to promoting conservation activities.

“It’s an honor to be able to continue the Broemmelsiek family’s legacy of preserving the long agricultural history of St. Charles County,” said St. Charles County Parks and Recreation Director Bettie Yahn-Kramer. “Broemmelsiek Park will always be a beautiful place for citizens to recreate and enjoy.”

Over the past few years, crews have been busy working on Phase II and Phase III development in the park, and now it’s time to officially open those areas to the public. St. Charles County Ex­ecutive Steve Ehlmann and Parks Director Bettie Yahn-Kramer will be keynote speakers during the ceremony, and citizens of all ages are invited to join in the celebration. The St. Charles County Police Honor Guard Unit will respectfully lead the Presentation of Colors and St. Dominic High School senior Cassandra Savant will sing the National Anthem.

As part of the festivi­ties, guests will also be able to explore the new park amenities, which include the Broemmelsiek Visitors Center with meeting room, 13-acre Betty’s Lake, 3/4-mile paved trail with bridge that wraps around the scenic lake, an additional mile of natural surfaced-trail that connects to paved trail, Hilltop Group Area, Specialty Shelter #7 with fire ring, Educational Agriculture Area and bridge that connects the new development to the existing park ground. In addition, guests may also revisit the Astronomy Viewing Area and the newly expanded 4.7-acre Off-Leash Dog Area. Both were constructed during Phase I development of the park.

For the past 18 years, the St. Charles County Parks and Recreation Department has been developing unique regional parks that pro­vide guests with recre­ation experiences that enhance the natural and historical heritage of County land. Broemmelsiek Park was made possible by the commitment of Jack and Betty Broemmelsiek to preserve the natural beauty of St. Charles County.

The original land acquisition of Broemmelsiek Park took place in July 2002, which included a partial donation from the Jack Broemmelsiek family. The Broemmelsiek’s sole interest was to protect their precious farmland from becoming just another suburban development in St. Charles County. Passionate about farming, it was not uncommon to find groups of science and biology students visiting the Broemmelsiek farm throughout the year. Now that the St. Charles County Parks and Recreation Department has preserved the land, it will continue to be enjoyed by future generations.

Source: St. Charles County Parks & Recreation