• Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Your neighborhood. Your News.

newsMilwaukee NNSMilwaukee NNSSearch
Subscribe to NNS today!
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
    • Arts and Recreation
    • Community
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Health and Wellness
    • Housing
    • Public Safety
    • NNS Spotlight
    • Special Report
  • Posts From Community
    • Submit a Story
  • Community Voices
  • How To
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Local Video
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect
    • NNS WGLB 1560 Radio
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
  • About
    • Staff
    • Partners
    • News 414
    • The neighborhoods we cover
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Diederich College of Communication, Marquette University

You are here: Home / Home / Carousel / Officials, residents hope new park in Lindsay Heights will revitalize neighborhood

Officials, residents hope new park in Lindsay Heights will revitalize neighborhood

May 28, 2014 by Brendan O’Brien Leave a Comment

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Neighborhood children join Sharon Adams (left) to break ground on a new park at 14th and Wright streets. (Photo by Brendan O’Brien)

Neighborhood children join Sharon Adams (left) to break ground on a new park at 14th and Wright streets. (Photo by Brendan O’Brien)

Leo Lemon strolled across the street from a grassy vacant lot where a pile of shiny shovels rested near a mound of fresh dirt.

The out-of-work 59-year-old said he hopes the park being planned across the street will one day make his neighborhood a bit safer by becoming a gathering place where men his age can socialize and play dominos.

“There will be a bunch of older guys over there and the (younger) guys will slow down doing what they are doing,” said Lemon, who has lived in the neighborhood for four decades.

Moments later, Mayor Tom Barrett and city dignitaries used the shovels and dirt for a groundbreaking ceremony, after announcing the city’s plans to build a pocket park on the corner of 14th and Wright streets in the Lindsay Heights neighborhood.

15th District Alderman Russell Stamper addresses residents and city officials at a ceremony announcing a new pocket park in Lindsay Heights. (Photo by Brendan O’Brien)

15th District Alderman Russell Stamper addresses residents and city officials at a ceremony announcing a new pocket park in Lindsay Heights. (Photo by Brendan O’Brien)

The plan for the park is part of Barrett’s HOME GR/OWN Milwaukee initiative, intended to create economic development, healthy food access and neighborhood revitalization in the central city. The initiative was Milwaukee’s entry into Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayor’s Challenge, in which the city was a top 20 finalist.

“Our goal is to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods just like Lindsay Heights and those hardest hit by the recent recession,” Barrett remarked.

The park, expected to be open in early July, will consist of fruit trees and plants native to Milwaukee and paths made of porous pavers to capture rainwater for irrigation. A landscaping crew from Walnut Way Conservation Corp., a neighborhood civic organization, will be trained to install and maintain the system, the mayor said.

“Too many of our neighborhoods have been left with blight and safety challenges (which is) some of the fallout from the nationwide foreclosure crisis,” Barrett said. “Today we will begin to make these spaces active again to keep our neighborhoods strong and healthy for the future.”

The park will be named after Ezekiel Gillespie, a civil rights leader who won an important voting rights court case for blacks in 1866. City officials hope the space will improve the appearance of the block and provide a tranquil setting where neighbors can gather.

Barrett, whose voice competed with an incessantly yapping dog across the street, noted the park will be open to dogs.

“This is good. It will give the kids something to do and we need that,” said Roger Stewart, 49, who lives across the street from the park and looks forward to taking his five grandkids and his Labrador to the park.

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

Filed Under: Carousel, Health and Wellness, Home, Lindsay Heights, Neighborhoods, News, North Tagged With: Environment, home grown, park

Avatar

About Brendan O’Brien

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement

Top Stories

Advertisement

How To …

How residents 65 and older can register for a coronavirus vaccine

Vaccines will be available for those 65 and older as part of Phase 1B of the distribution plan.

More "How To" articles

Advertisement

Recommended Reading

A Vaccine Reality Check

The Atlantic

UWM study on the state of Black Milwaukee describes the city as ‘the epitome of a 21st century racial regime’

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Videos Show How Federal Officers Escalated Violence in Portland

The New York Times

These mayors want to fight Covid-19 and the recession with one big idea: A guaranteed income

Vox

The World John Lewis Helped Create

The Atlantic

News

  • Arts and Recreation
  • Economic Development
  • Education
  • Health and Wellness
  • Housing
  • Public Safety
  • NNS Spotlight
  • Special Reports
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Videos
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect Radio

Engage with us

  • Posts from Community
  • Community Voices
  • Submit a Story

About NNS

  • Staff
  • Partners
  • News414
  • The neighborhoods we cover
  • Internship opportunities
  • Careers
  • Terms of use
  • Advertise

Connect with us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS feed

Communities

Contact

mailing address
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Diederich College of Communication
Marquette University
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Johnston Hall 430
Milwaukee, WI 53233

email
info@milwaukeenns.org

phone & fax
PHONE: 414.604.6397 FAX: 414.288.6494

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service is a project of Diederich College of Communication and Marquette University.
© 2020 Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Terms of use.
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee WI 53233 • info@milwaukeenns.org

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in