September 2025
Community Survey
As the city faces budgetary challenges, city officials hope to obtain feedback from as many residents as possible on funding priorities. The survey - an eight-page document - will explain the budget challenges and offer three main questions posed to residents.
The survey will be sent out to residents the week of September 15th. Reponses are due by October 6th, and can be returned online, physically at the Sun Prairie Public Library (1350 Linnerud Drive) or City Hall (300 E Main Street), or through the mail.
Learn more about the survey in the interview below!
Interview with Aaron Oppenheimer, City Administrator
Sun Prairie Sustainability Fair Recap
Interview with Dr. Rose Daily, Sustainability & Resilience Manager
6th Annual Sun Prairie Multicultural Fair
Get ready for an exciting day filled with performances, food, arts and crafts, family activities, artisan goods, and more during the sixth annual Sun Prairie Multicultural Fair! Join us on September 27th at Sheehan Park (925-1375 Linnerud Dr) from 11-4p.m. to celebrate the diversity of cultures that make Sun Prairie so special.
Interview with Sandy Xiong, Chief of Staff to the City Administrator
Hunger Action Month
September marks the city's second year participating in raising awareness for Hunger Action month. City hall will be lit orange for the month, and there will be a proclamation on the September 2 Council meeting.
Hunger Action Month is an annual campaign dedicated to raising awareness and taking action against hunger.
Interview with Ted Jun, Director of Marketing and Communications - Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin
Downtown Sun Prairie Earns Main Street Designation from State of Wisconsin
The Downtown Sun Prairie Business Improvement District (BID) has been accepted into the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC)’s Main Street Program, joining a select group of communities that have demonstrated a sustained commitment to revitalizing their commercial districts.
Interview with Mary D'Amico, Business Improvement District (BID) Manager
Administration
Ad-hoc Communications Committee Seeking Public Input
In May, the Common Council approved the creation of an ad-hoc communications committee. The committee was tasked with identifying ways to improve the city’s communication with residents. The committee was tasked with the following:
- Examine and assess the city's current communications strategies, practices, and processes including website, social media, and direct messaging tools
- Explore additional communication tools to publicize City meetings and activities such as a City newsletter
- Ensure information is accessible to all members of the community, inclusive in both language and ability
- Assess the preferences of the community in content and delivery method
The committee has been meeting over the last several months to review and discuss these topics and have developed draft recommendations for the city to communicate more effectively. The committee is hosting public feedback sessions and are inviting members of the public to receive the community’s reaction and gain insight on how residents would like to receive city information. The sessions will be held:
- September 23, 2025 from 6-8pm at Colonial Club
- September 24, 2025 from 6-8pm via Zoom
- September 29, 2025 from 6-8pm at West High School Commons
Please visit the city website for additional information on the committee’s work and public feedback sessions.
Hunger Action Month
Engineering
Road Projects and Construction Updates
ST. ALBERT THE GREAT DRIVE MILL & OVERLAY AND WILBURN ROAD-COLUMBUS STREET BIKE PATH OVERLAY PROJECT
LIMITS: St. Albert the Great Drive from North Thompson Road to Broadway Drive. The Wilburn portion of this project starts at 1000 Wilburn Rd and ends at Progress Way. The Columbus Street portion begins at Wilburn Road intersection and ends at the Quarra Stone cul-de-sac.
PROJECT SCHEDULE: June 9, 2025 - September 15, 2025
SCOPE OF PROJECT: This project will include curb & gutter and sidewalk spot repairs, bike path repair, pavement milling and overlay and pavement markings. The path portion of the project includes a 1.5” asphalt overlay of the existing 10’ wide shared-use path with spot asphalt removal and replacement, and sidewalk crossing improvements.
CURRENT STATUS: All mill and overlay complete, bike path complete, currently finishing bus stop pad installation throughout the City.
2025 LINNERUD DRIVE REHABILITATION AND SIDEWALK PROJECT
LIMITS: Linnerud Drive from Walker Way to Bird Street.
WHEN: July 21, 2025 - September 19, 2025
SCOPE OF PROJECT: This project will include new storm sewer structures and pipe, spot repairs to the existing curb, gutter, and sidewalk, curb ramp improvements at Walker and Linnerud intersection, added pedestrian safety measures, and the replacement of existing asphalt pavement.
STATUS: Contactor has started with curb and sidewalk removals. Work has started on storm sewer install at Walker Way. Concrete curb and gutter and sidewalk preparation will take place next week.
Community Development
Mike Cunningham's Annual Scarecrow Contest - Downtown Sun Prairie
On Saturday, October 4, 2025, help us decorate Downtown Sun Prairie for fall! Create a scarecrow to be displayed October 4–31. Entry Form - Must be completed and submitted with your scarecrow on Saturday, October 4 between 8 am - 12 pm at the Farmers Market.
Downtown Sun Prairie Earns Main Street Designation from State of Wisconsin
The Downtown Sun Prairie Business Improvement District (BID) has been accepted into the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC)’s Main Street Program, joining a select group of communities that have demonstrated a sustained commitment to revitalizing their commercial districts.
“Strong, thriving communities are what make Wisconsin a great place for people to live, work, grow, and do business,” said Missy Hughes, secretary and CEO of WEDC. “WEDC congratulates Sun Prairie and Green Lake for their commitment to successful community development.”
“I wanted to take this opportunity to formally welcome you into the group,” said WEDC Senior Director of Downtown Development Errin Welty, who attended the Aug. 12 Main Street announcement event held at The Loft at 132 in downtown Sun Prairie. “It's a great network of people who love downtown, and there's a lot of great ones.”
“This designation is a huge milestone for Downtown Sun Prairie,” said Adam Bougie, Board Chair of the Sun Prairie BID. “It reflects the hard work and dedication of our business owners, volunteers, and community partners who continue to invest their time and passion into making our downtown vibrant and welcoming. With the support of the Main Street Program, we’re excited to strengthen our district, diversify our business mix, and build on the strong foundation already in place.”
The Sun Prairie BID joined the Connect Communities in 2020 as part of their recovery plan after a 2018 natural gas explosion destroyed several downtown properties. The Downtown Sun Prairie BID group is recognized for its numerous local events and extensive public art and streetscape initiatives and this summer held a new public arts festival honoring former resident Georgia O’Keeffe. Joining the Main Street program provides the opportunity to pursue new and diverse funding sources and to expand business retention and recruitment efforts in the growing district.
Administered by WEDC, the Wisconsin Main Street Program is a comprehensive revitalization program designed to promote the historic and economic redevelopment of traditional business districts in Wisconsin. It is part of a nationwide program of the National Main Street Center.
After a thorough application and review process, WEDC selects up to three communities annually to join the program. The 34 communities already participating in the program receive technical support and training needed to ensure that their downtown districts continue to thrive as centers of community activity and commerce.
Since the program’s inception in 1988, Wisconsin Main Street communities have created nearly 3,500 net new businesses and over 17,000 net new jobs. Main Street communities in Wisconsin also have generated more than $3 billion in public and private investment in this time and are collectively renovating more than 250 buildings per year statewide.
Learn more about Downtown Sun Prairie online at DowntownSunPrairieWI.com; or, follow Downtown Sun Prairie on Facebook or Instagram.
About City of Sun Prairie Sun Prairie is a vibrant and thriving community located in northeastern Dane County, just east of the City of Madison. The City of Sun Prairie has experienced strong population growth since its incorporation from a village to a city in 1958, undergoing a transformation from a relatively small community of less than 4,000 to an estimated 39,419 today.
Parks, Recreation and Forestry
Fall Recreation Highlights
Sun Prairie Historical Library & Museum
NEW Exhibition! Stories in Silk: The Artistry of Patricia Hable Zastrow
In 1995, Sun Prairie based artist Patricia Hable Zastrow set out to depict Aesop’s fables on the unique medium of silk. For five years she hand-dyed and constructed a series of silk vests, each adorned with a fable and illustrations, bringing the ancient Greek stories to life through fashion. While silk dyeing is an artform that traces its roots to ancient China, Zastrow is a pioneer in the American interpretation of painting silks.
The Sun Prairie Historical Library & Museum invites you to explore this new exhibition running September 10, 2025 through January 21, 2026 during open hours and by appointment.
The Museum is open to the public Wednesdays through Saturdays 11:00am - 4:00pm and by appointment for research and events. To learn more, visit www.cityofsunprairie.com/museum.
Staff can be reached by phone at (608) 825-0837 or by email at museum@cityofsunprairie.com.
The Historical Library and Museum is located at 115 East Main St. Sun Prairie with parking behind the building. Admission is always free.
Sun Prairie Media Center
SPHS Football Coverage Kicks Off on KSUN
Sun Prairie football returns to KSUN! SPMC is planning coverage of every home game for Sun Prairie Cardinals and Sun Prairie Wolves.
Home games are scheduled to be broadcast on KSUN Now (Spectrum cable channel 983, TDS channels 983/1983). All games will be streamed on sunprairiemediacenter.com, on the SPMC Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV channels, and on the free-to-download Sun Prairie Media Center app. Home games are also scheduled to air live on 103.5 FM The Sun Community Radio. Following live coverage, games will re-air on both KSUN Now and Life (TDS channel 985) channels for additional viewing.
The Media Center would like to thank all the volunteers that have agreed to help bring these broadcasts to life. They will be on-site during the games to provide play-by-play coverage of the events. SPMC is always looking for additional volunteers who would like to help with game coverage. Please contact staff@sunprairiemediacenter.com for additional information.
In addition, Sun Prairie Media Center would like to thank their sponsors, Interiors by JW and Bank of Sun Prairie, for their support of these productions.
For a current schedule of football coverage and other programming, please go to SPHS Football Broadcast Schedule. This schedule is subject to change.
KIDS4 Registration for 2025-26 Now Open
Sun Here’s your child’s chance to write and produce their own videos by joining the one-of-a-kind KIDS4 program! KIDS4 is an after-school media production program run by the Sun Prairie Media Center designed for students in 4th through 8th grade.
In KIDS4, students are trained in many areas necessary to create their own television and video productions including cameras, lighting, sound, directing, producing, writing, editing, and animation. While students work with adult staff, their creativity is unfiltered, and their work is entirely their own. By creating their own media messages, students become smarter and more critical consumers of others' media messages. Students enrolled in KIDS4 Crews work after school once a week in ‘crews’ and their work airs on KIDS4, a 24-hour public access station available on Spectrum, TDS, Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire devices, as well as streaming on kids4.tv and on the free Sun Prairie Media Center app. Some projects will also air on 103.5FM The SUN Community Radio.
KIDS4 Crew registration information is available online at www.kids4.tv/kids-4-signup-info/ . For additional questions, please contact staff at staff@sunprairiemediacenter.com or call 608-837-4193. The registration deadline is set for Friday, September 12. Please keep in mind that registration numbers are limited for this program.
- KIDS4 Registration Information: https://www.kids4.tv/kids-4-signup-info/
- Contact Sun Prairie Media Center with questions at: 837-4193 or staff@sunprairiemediacenter.com
- Program Fee = $200 for Members and $275 for Non-members. Price includes a t-shirt, crew poster and digital copies of the projects that are created. Scholarships are available for those who qualify.
Please visit kids4.tv for more information
Sun Prairie Utilities
Sun Prairie Utilities is hosting a coloring contest in celebration of Public Power Week
About City of Sun Prairie
Sun Prairie is a vibrant and thriving community located in northeastern Dane County, just east of the City of Madison. The City of Sun Prairie has experienced strong population growth since its incorporation from a village to a city in 1958, undergoing a transformation from a relatively small community of less than 4,000 to an estimated 39,419 today.
About Sun Prairie Utilities
Serving the community since 1910, Sun Prairie Utilities (SPU) is a not-for-profit, locally-owned municipal electric and water utility that provides safe, reliable, and cost-competitive services to residents and businesses, mostly within the city limits of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. Local representation and control allow all citizens to have a voice in how our utility can best meet the community’s needs. As a co-owner of WPPI Energy, a nonprofit, Sun Prairie-based power company, we purchase cost-competitive electricity for our community and take advantage of the latest technologies to better serve our customers.
Annual Multicultural Fair
The City of Sun Prairie is thrilled to announce that it will be hosting its highly anticipated annual Multicultural Fair on Saturday, September 27, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Sheehan Park, located at 1375 Linnerud Drive, Sun Prairie WI. This vibrant event aims to honor and celebrate the diverse cultures that thrive within our community, fostering unity and promoting cultural exchange.
The Multicultural Fair promises an immersive experience for attendees, featuring a wide array of activities and attractions that highlight the richness of our city's multicultural heritage. From captivating cultural performances to a delectable variety of international cuisine, there will be something for everyone to enjoy.
In addition to cultural performances and food, attendees can expect an abundance of activities, community resources, and engagement opportunities with local organizations. The event is designed to create an inclusive atmosphere where individuals from all walks of life can connect, learn, and appreciate the different cultures that contribute to the fabric of Sun Prairie.
City Services Guide
Have you ever wanted to learn more about the City's departments and the services they provide? Check out the new city services guide that will get you connected! Print copies will be made available in city buildings such as City Hall and the Westside Community Services Building. Click the graphic below to access the online version.
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