Rob Fattig, a 2006 STC High School graduate who serves as assistant vice president, branch manager and loan officer at Chelsea Savings Bank in Chelsea, is leading the fundraising effort for the construction of a new community park in his hometown. PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY

CHELSEA — Rob Fattig grew up in Chelsea, graduated from South Tama County High School in 2006, went to Central College and spent over a decade in the engineering field with Pella Corp. before returning home about two years ago and switching careers in the process, following in his father’s footsteps and taking a job with Chelsea Savings Bank.

Fattig and his wife Kacie, who are now parents of a young daughter, love to visit other small towns in Iowa, go to dinner and then check out a local park afterward, but when they moved back to Chelsea, with a current estimated population of about 225 residents, they realized it didn’t have one.

“There really isn’t a park in Chelsea. There is some park equipment that is where the old school used to be, but it’s like 40 years old. It’s just worn out, and it’s kind of off the beaten path,” he said.

But instead of simply complaining about it, Fattig sprung into action, noticing an open green space next between the new library and the Chelsea United Methodist Church on Station Street. In April, he approached the city council about turning the land, which is already city-owned, into a park, and he quickly found a receptive audience.

“They loved it. They didn’t have anybody to manage it, but I said I’ll manage it as long as you guys support it,” Fattig said.

Drawing on his previous experience in manufacturing engineering, Fattig, who now holds the titles of assistant vice president, branch manager and loan officer at CSB, began working with a friend from Des Moines to devise plans and a budget for the park with the understanding that the funding would need to come from private sources and grants.

“We’re not for sure on the exact design of what it’s gonna look like, but we know that we’re gonna have some playground equipment, some swings, some benches and we wanted to have a picnic shelter,” Fattig said. “Well, it turned out the library, which is right next door, they were going to put together some kind of an outdoor space to have ISU Extension Outreach people come in and do kids programs and do DNR programs and stuff, but it’s always outside. So they wanted to put together some kind of an outdoor space to have that kind of thing… So they knew I was working on this park thing and they’re like ‘Hey, you know, maybe we should get together and talk about this to see if we can kind of form a team and do everything together.'”

As a result, Fattig agreed to head up the playground and dirt work portion of the project, while library leaders will take the lead on the picnic shelter pavilion. Right now, the budget estimate for the playground is between $40,000 and $45,000, and Fattig expects the cost of the shelter to be around $15,000 — but as he noted, the individuals behind that project are leading separate fundraising efforts.

Chelsea Mayor Leif Morris said that despite the obvious budget constraints in a community of less than 250 people, he and the council wholeheartedly support the project, and he’s excited to see how it progresses in the months to come.

“The city’s not able to, basically, put any money into it. You know, we could do some of the labor and that kind of stuff, but we just don’t have the funds for it,” he said. “With such a small town, you require a lot of outside help. And I’m not talking about the state or anything like that, but just people that grew up in town who maybe are farmers now and don’t live in town, they help out a lot.”

So far, over $22,000, or about half of the overall goal, has been secured for the park, all through private donations, with several grant applications pending. The Chelsea Car Show volunteer committee, which typically donates all of the proceeds from the event back into community causes, made a $3,000 contribution to the park.

“The park is located right where the car show goes on, so it’s really gonna help that,” Fattig said. “The library can use it. The Methodist Church has a good after school program for kids, Kids Club is what they call it… It’s a nice central outdoor location. There’s indoor places, but there’s nothing really outdoors.”

The playground equipment at the old school, Fattig joked, was relatively new when he was in school 30 years ago, but it has “lived its life.”

“There’s a lot of people that have been in this community for a long time. It’s generational families, but there hasn’t been anything new in a long time. So it’s like, let’s have something new that we can be proud of that people are talking about and maybe entice some younger families to move to the area,” he said. “So that’s kind of the goal.”

Because of its location in the Iowa River Valley, Chelsea, which once boasted a population of 575 residents nearly a century ago, has a long and unfortunate history with flooding, so the first order of business for the project is to raise the ground that it will be positioned on by three feet on the east side and one foot on the west side.

“It’s going to be higher than any flood has ever reached to date, so we should be safe there,” Fattig said. “So that’s starting later this week, and then we want the dirt to settle over the winter. The plan is to start the installation of the playground equipment in maybe April (or) May, when the ground thaws, and hopefully we’re working on the pavilion at the same time.”

He hopes to have the majority of the work done in time for the 2025 Chelsea Car Show next July, but with fundraising remaining a challenge and the city not having enough of a budget to contribute, Fattig is anticipating completing the project in stages.

“This year, we’ll do the dirt work and get the main playground equipment in, and then we’ll keep doing some fundraising, look for some more grants and put in another, maybe a little kids section and then maybe some monkey bars later, and we’re gonna do it in steps over the next couple years,” he said.

Morris is optimistic that the new attraction will draw visitors to the center of town and the library while improving the overall aesthetics of Chelsea, and he was effusive in his praise of Rob and Kacie Fattig for their tireless efforts to bring a state-of-the-art park to town.

“It’s definitely a positive. (Rob and Kacie) are the ones spearheading it, obviously, but the city is fully behind it. We’re always looking for anybody that wants to do that kind of stuff,” Morris said. “It’s a blessing, obviously… They’re definitely doing a great job with it, and we hope to build onto it with the library also involved.”

Anyone interested in donating can pick up a form at the Chelsea Savings Bank, located at 1101 Station St., and choose a sponsorship level with the opportunity to have their names included on a sign recognizing donors. Checks should be made payable to the City of Chelsea with “Park project” written in the memo line.

The bank can be reached at (641) 489-2888, and Fattig himself can be contacted at rfattig@chelseasavingsbank.com.