Town Square – by Fran Hill, CEO of Town Square

For the last three years, our beautiful, historic courthouse has taken on a new life as a fabulous community center called Town Square, entirely created and supported by the people of the Green Lake County Area. I am so grateful to have been part of that process. I remember the grand old courthouse building from my childhood—as a little girl, I sat in the laundromat (now the Special Properties Real Estate office) with my mother and looked out the window in awe of thehuge lawn and giant pillars. I didn’t know what went on over there, but I knew that it was important. Because it was happening in an important building. That building was the glue that held the county together. It grounded us and gave us a sense of place. Now, people from all walks of life come to Town Square for yoga, cooking or painting classes. They come for our 24-hour fitness center or for the artist co-op selling the work of 20 area artists. They come for our galleries, our meeting spaces, our day spa and our certified commercial kitchen. So, when I think about it, it seems to me that our old courthouse is even more important in its second life than it was as a government building. It is still the glue. But it is the glue that holds our people together. It is the place that we come to work, play, learn and solve problems together. It is the place where we accomplish as a community what we never could have done alone.