Oz Plaza

Oz Plaza is located in Downtown Oconomowoc adjacent to City Hall, 174 East Wisconsin Avenue.

The plaza used to be an unused alley until City of Oconomowoc staff dreamed up ways to enhance it in celebration to the City's tie to the famous film, "The Wizard of Oz."

In 1939, when "The Wizard of Oz" first premiered in movie theaters, producers weren't sure if the film would be a hit. They picked several small, Midwestern theaters to premiere the movie. Oconomowoc's Strand Theater downtown was one of them that premiered the film in August of 1939.

While the theater no longer stands, Oz Plaza, has been created very close to its original location.

The project began in 2018, when Director of Economic Development and Tourism, Bob Duffy, came across molds for the Oz characters. The molds were used to create the life-size characters at a theme park in another part of the country. The molds were revived for Oz Plaza and installed in 2019 along with a Yellow Brick Road. The space was unveiled as part of the City's 80th anniversary celebration of the screening of the film here.

After the 80th anniversary, creative juices again started flowing among city staff regarding what else could be done to make the Oz Plaza space special. Community Development Specialist, Kristi Weber, along with other staff members began to craft a plan of how to truly make this downtown pocket park and fun and interactive space.

Kristi began to mock up more enhancements for Oz Plaza with a goal to complete the update in time for the 85th anniversary in August of 2024.

Additions included:

A re-swirled Yellow Brick Road to lead from the lake front north of the plaza.
Lighting
Two more characters
A replica of the House that Killed the Witch
Seating
Flying Monkey Wings
Historic enhancements to the plaza

Although a short downpour decided to occur during the ribbon-cutting for the 85th Anniversary Oz Plaza, Kristi was all smiles along with those who gathered to celebrate the new space.

Oz Plaza

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