After years of advocating for park improvements, the Walker Square neighborhood will see an investment of $750,000 to update Walker Square Park.
“We’re looking forward to this funding and really we’re calling this a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make some huge improvements to such an important and historic park in a neighborhood that really needs it,” said Nicole Hertel Meirose, co-leader of the Friends of Walker Square Park.
Before any designs are made, Milwaukee County Parks is surveying residents in the neighborhood on what improvements they would like to see made to the park.
Funding
Walker Square Park is receiving funding through an amendment of the project plan for Tax Increment Finance District #85 (6th Street and National Avenue), which allocates $8.7 million to a group of infrastructure projects in Walker’s Point and Walker Square.
The amendment was adopted by the City of Milwaukee Redevelopment Authority in May and received final approval from the Milwaukee Common Council and Joint Review Board in June, according to Dan Casanova, senior economic development specialist lead with the City of Milwaukee Department of City Development.
The Walker Square Neighborhood Association worked with the Department of City Development on the Walker Square Strategic Action Plan in 2015, which included ideas for park improvements.
“We’re leaning on that work that was done almost 10 years ago now, and we’re really going to rely on the Friends group and Milwaukee County to do a majority of the public involvement and surveying of what the neighborhood would like to see in the park,” Casanova said.
He added that the Common Council and Mayor Cavalier Johnson have pushed the department to collaborate with Milwaukee County to support parks projects when possible, which is still relatively new.
José Pérez, the council president who represents Walker Square in District 12, helped the grassroots resident groups find funding for park updates.
“Alderman Pérez has been a great friend of our association and has been helpful in getting the word out that this park needs assistance,” said Jay Carter, president of the Walker Square Neighborhood Association.
County parks launching survey
Milwaukee County Parks started knocking on doors on Aug. 26 to survey residents within a quarter mile radius of the park and hopes to reach 500 respondents by Oct. 8, according to Tony Giron, community engagement manager for Milwaukee County Parks.
“We have our own priorities, but we want to make sure that that’s in line with what the neighborhood wants as well,” Giron said.
Questions included in the survey ask about the main feature of Walker Square Park, what residents like about the park in general and offer a list of ideas for improvements.
The survey is translated into Spanish; district staff working on the survey also speak Spanish.
It also asks for an address, but that is used only to help the surveying team know if they need to skip over homes that have already completed the survey, Giron said.
Some of the possible options
In the densely-populated South Side neighborhood of Walker Square, Walker Square Park is a small but bustling park that serves as a central gathering space and the main green space within walking distance.
“Right now we have aspects of it that are either heavily used and therefore need to be replenished, or they’re not used at all, and they’re sort of that opportunity space I guess that we’re looking to utilize,” Carter said.
For instance, the playground and grassy areas are frequently used by children in the neighborhood and students from United Community Center’s Bruce-Guadalupe Community School, which is located at 1028 S. 9th St., across the street from the park.
But the park’s pavilion is usually locked and not available to rent.
“We would love to activate that space and have more meetings or events, or maybe even a small cafe that could be run out of the pavilion,” Meirose said.
The Friends of Walker Square Park also is interested in improving the walkways, landscaping and tree care, and highlighting the plaza elements of the park.
Another possibility is converting the wading pool into a splash pad, which would be able to be open more often because it would not require a lifeguard, according to Giron.
“They have it open for maybe three weeks,” said Rochelie Martinez about the wading pool.
Martinez, a neighborhood resident who uses the park almost every day with her kids, said she likes the playground but would like to see updates to some of the equipment as well as more picnic tables.
Other ideas include adding more plants or art in the park or improving lighting and adding safety features.
What would you like to see in Walker Square Park?
Once the surveying is done, Milwaukee County Parks will start working on a foundational plan for the park and then do another round of community input surveys to narrow the plans, Giron said. Funding from the tax incremental finance district must be spent by January 1, 2028.
Take the survey online or find more about the project at mkecountyparks.org/walker-square-updates.
Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
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