About the Hauge Preservation Fund....

In 2001 the Town of Perry Historic Preservation Commission recognized the need to protect the historic Hauge site by establishing the Hauge Historic District, which encompasses some 34 acres surrounding and including the original Hauge church and cemetery. The Commission's Preservation Plan for the district recognizes it's unique character and setting and seeks to preserve the commanding and superior view in all directions, including that of the imposing Blue Mounds to the north.

Due to increasing development pressures in this rapidly growing area of Dane County, Town of Perry residents felt that additional protection of the site was needed beyond establishment of the Historic District.  Subsequently, by a town meeting vote of 63 to 7, the Perry town board was instructed to proceed with actual purchase, for park purposes, of properties within the Historic District.  Responding to this overwhelming mandate, the Perry town board at its April 2002 meeting adopted a "Resolution of Necessity for Undertaking a Public Improvement Project" which set in motion creation of the Hauge Historic Park and acquisition of land included within the previously established Historic District.

The town intends to develop the park in a manner that will maintain and enhance the character of the historic site while serving to provide town residents and the region with facilities for hiking, picnics, or other passive activities.  This, the first park in the Town of Perry, will, as stated by the Perry Historic Preservation Commission, “foster civic pride in the accomplishments of the past as well as promote its use for the education, pleasure and welfare of all people now and into the future.”