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11.13.2005
Determined neighbors save a square of open space
Whitney Gould
Original article: Journal Sentinel
Find an orphaned chunk of land almost anywhere in or near downtown Milwaukee and chances are it will soon be developed. This is, on the whole, something to cheer about. You need a critical mass of residents and businesses to create vibrant communities and battle sprawl.
But a healthy city also needs open space. Places where you can catch your breath, savor the passing parade and listen to birds. Places for kids to play. Places that add value to neighborhoods.
Trouble is, it's not easy to create such sites these days. Besides development pressures, leftover land may have contaminated hotspots. Moreover, the county parks system is strapped for funds and the city retreated from the parks business decades ago.
All the more heartening, then, to see community groups picking up where government has left off. Take Lynden Hill, a rolling, partially wooded parcel bordered by N. 22nd and N. 23rd streets and W. Juneau and W. McKinley avenues.
I became familiar with Lynden Hill in 1999, when I covered a couple of community meetings about the future of the hilly tract. It took its name from Lynden, the Gothic Revival mansion built there in the 1850s by William Pitt Lynden, a future Milwaukee mayor whose daughter, Clara, married Henry Bradley, the father of Harry and Lynde Bradley, founders of the Allen-Bradley Corp.
The house fell to the wrecking ball long ago, as did another building on the site, Misericordia Hospital, in 1981. Although the land had long been used for recreation, the city, which owned it, eyed it for housing. When neighbors rallied to ensure its preservation as open space, the wish list for amenities was a mile long - everything from a skating rink to a performance stage and a community building.
After six years of sifting and winnowing, and enough meetings to make your eyes glaze over, the half-dozen project partners finally agreed on a realistic plan that came to fruition in September, when the site became an official park: The southern edge, high on a hill that kids use for sledding, has kept its wooded character; the meadow below remains undeveloped, with a few amenities strategically tucked in. These include a lovely gateway at 22nd and McKinley, made out of a circle of limestone boulders and a wooden pergola; a stone council ring, where kids can gather for environmental education; and a small garden of native plants.
The park, which the city leases to the Midtown Neighborhood Association for $1 a year, still has some unresolved issues: What to do about restrooms? (There are none right now.) What about maintenance? (Longtime neighbor Jim Grochowski for years has been kind enough to mow it, but he can't be expected to do that indefinitely.) Victoria Toliver, executive director of the neighborhood association, says the group is exploring grants to underwrite such costs.
The important thing, though, is that the land will remain open. Already you can see rekindled confidence in the area around Lynden Hill: old homes being fixed up, new ones sprouting on vacant lots.
"Having green space, which represents negative cash flow for the city, can inspire new investment," says Mark Weaver, a community planner with America's Outdoors, a coalition of federal agencies that worked with the neighborhood in planning Lynden Hill. "You don't always have to see it as an abandoned lot waiting to be developed. It can be a park."
Neighborhood activist Janet Grochowski, who is married to Jim, agrees.
"Having Lynden Hill as a focal point has really helped us," she says. "Homeownership is increasing."
There may be more such diamonds in the rough. The National Park Service, a member agency of America's Outdoors, is starting a non-profit called Groundwork Milwaukee, part of a network designed to identify potential open-space projects nationwide. The Groundwork folks would do the administrative work for local groups and help them apply for grants. (For more information, click on www.groundworkusa.net.)
Other signs of greening: In the Fond du Lac and North Avenues neighborhood, the non-profit Urban Open Space Foundation and a long list of community groups are working with the county parks department to rejuvenate the county's inhospitable Johnsons Park. A partnership among the COA Youth & Family Centers, neighborhood organizations and the city has revitalized city-owned Kilbourn Park overlooking the booming Commerce St. neighborhood. The Urban Ecology Center has turned the county's neglected Riverside Park into a hotbed of environmental education.
The common ingredients are a strong vision; heaps of patience, savvy networking and neighborhood commitment; and one or more non-profit anchors that will be around for the long haul. Before you know it, a scruffy leftover has become a centerpiece.
