NEW FRANKEN (NBC 26) — A New Franken park with a rich Packers history continues its tradition of welcoming newcomers to northeast Wisconsin. This time, for the upcoming NFL Draft. NBC 26 dives into the history of the place which was once the home of the Packers’ training camp.
- Hear official Packers Team Historian Cliff Christl tell the story of Rockwood Lodge
- Learn how Bay Shore County Park is being used today
- Bay Shore Park is the largest campsite available in Brown County during the upcoming NFL Draft
- The NFL Draft is happening in Green Bay April 24-26
- The Brown County Parks Department is applying for a state historic marker to commemorate Rockwood Lodge and its role in the story of the Packers
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story.)
I’m Pari Apostolakos standing on hallowed Packers ground at Bay Shore County Park, a former practice field and training camp. But, soon a home-away-from-home for Draft days tourists. I learned how this place continues the tradition of welcoming newcomers to northeast Wisconsin.
Watch Pari Apostolakos’ full broadcast story below:
“Right now … We’re on the actual training fields,” Brown County Parks Director Matt Kriese said one snowy March day. “So this is what the Packers used for their training field, right where we are here.”
In 1946 the Packers bought this land for their training camp. Now, nearly 80 years later it’s public property. Just north of Green Bay and spanning more than 90 acres, Bay Shore County Park is one of the largest in Brown County.
“Bay Shore Park is probably on the top three of our attendance,” Kriese said.
It was easy for me to see why when he showed me the park’s views of the bay of Green Bay.
“I’m excited to see this cliff but I’m also nervous,” I said as we walked towards the overlook.
“Well during the summer time we do have the road that leads down the hill and down the escarpment,” Kriese said. “So that is where our boat landing and everything is.”
The park will open its campsites early this year to Draft visitors and though they’ll be spending much of their time near Lambeau Field, they’ll be camping near what one historian calls the first true training camp in professional football.
Cliff Christl is the official Packers Team Historian.
“People coming to green bay for the Draft … Getting their first feel for Green Bay will be just like the rookies that came to camp from 1946 to ’49 who, when they got here, probably had never been to Green Bay before,” Christl said over Zoom.
During camp, the Packers stayed at Rockwood Lodge.
“An imposing building,” Christl said.
Built by the Norbertine monks from the St. Norbert Catholic monastery in De Pere as a social center outside the city.
“Curly Lambeau and the Packers were ahead of their time by purchasing it,” Christl said.
But, it wasn’t perfect.
Limestone under the topsoil is close to the surface which … Christl said, caused injuries like shin splints. But despite that, he said the team only stopped training here because Rockwood Lodge burned to the ground in Jan. 1950.
“Did they ever figure out why it burned down?” I asked.
“There have been stories written about how somebody with the Packers torched it. That’s absurd,” Christl said. “The caretaker had warned somebody that there was faulty wiring there.”
The county later took over the property in the 1970s.
“How do you feel as a packers fan kind of standing on history right now?” I asked Matt Kriese as we stood on the grounds of the old practice field.
“It’s pretty neat to have this park under our jurisdiction and quite frankly, I’m pleased that the county leadership at that time in the ’60s and ’70s did that,” Kriese said. “It’s very important for all communities to preserve and protect some of these natural areas and historic sites and this just happens to be one of those that will be in the public’s hands forever and ever.”
The Brown County Parks Department is applying for a state historic marker to commemorate Rockwood Lodge and its role in the story of the Packers.
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