In 1937 the City of Milwaukee ceded their parks to Milwaukee County because of financial problems. The thought then was to spread the cost of building and operating parks to a broader tax base. This consolidation of City and County parks worked very well as the tax base of the County was growing exponentially. Unfortunately, our parks today are suffering the same malady that lead to the consolidation.
To put the current financial problems of our parks in historical
perspective it is helpful to understand how our present system of parks
was created.
The 15,000 acres of parks and
parkways enjoyed today by residents of Milwaukee County
arose from modest beginnings. When the City of Milwaukee was established in 1846, its
founding fathers, most notably Solomon Juneau, Byron Kilbourn and George Walker
had provided "public squares" in their early settlements. These were
followed by a park on the east-side of the city overlooking the lakefront,
today's Juneau Park; and the Flushing Tunnel and the
Water Tower sites, which were landscaped by the Board of Public Works as an
incidental side to their main functions for sanitation. These public parks were
intended to be public places, open to everyone without charge, where people
might relax in a pleasant green landscape free from the urban hustle and bustle
but were soon not enough to satisfy the needs of a rapidly expanding city.
Between
1870 and 1900, Milwaukee's
population quadrupled from 70,000 to 285,000. During this period urban
residents were seeking opportunities for recreation, and to meet their need
numerous private parks or "pleasure gardens" were established. These
gardens catered to families and group excursions, who paid a fee to enjoy a
combination of entertainment, amusement and refreshments, in addition to fresh
air and flowers.
Towards
the end of the nineteenth century the City of Milwaukee was faced with the need to improve
public services for its rapidly expanding urban population. It was at this
time, in 1889 when the Milwaukee Board of Park Commissioners was created. The
first board, appointed by Mayor Thomas H. Brown was composed of five civic and
business leaders who served without pay. They were: Christian Wahl, president;
Calvin E. Lewis, Charles Manegold, Jr., Louis Auer, and John Bentley.
In 1889 the state legislature passed laws
permitting the City of Milwaukee
and its park commission to purchase land with money raised from the sale of
bonds. The new park board first assembled in June of 1889 and by October 1890,
they had agreed upon the five sites to purchase. These sites became Lake Park, Riverside Park,
Mitchell Park, Kosciuszko Park and Humboldt
Park.
As the
City boundaries expanded, the City Board soon found the original legislation
too restrictive. New legislation in 1891 allowed the board to purchase land
anywhere in Milwaukee
County where desirable
sites and reasonable prices were more readily available. Land was then
purchased for Washington and Sherman Parks. With these early land purchases, the Board had
gone over $800,000 in debt and thus no additional lands would be purchased for
the next sixteen years.
Financial
problems were a constant hindrance to the physical expansion of the City park
system after the momentum of the first few years.
One of
the most notable early steps taken by the Park board in its early years was to
retain the services of nationally known landscape architect Frederick Law
Olmsted, whose firm eventually provided the basic layout for three of the new
parks, Lake, Riverside and Washington.
By the
early 1900's a group of city leaders felt that a broader vision for the growth
of the surrounding region was needed. The creation of the Milwaukee County Park
Commission in 1907 allowed for the purchase of parkland outside of the city
limits. Anticipating the need for population growth into the rural areas, they
placed a strong emphasis on sound planning of major transportation routes,
zoning for future development and the creation of a countywide park and parkway
system. Under the leadership of Charles
Whitnall, the County's park system received widespread public and political
approval. A Regional Planning Department was established in 1923, and soon,
extensive plans for the park and parkway lands, purchased by the County Park
Commission, were developed. With these visionary plans in hand, the New Deal
programs of the Depression era became an opportunity for unprecedented
development for the parks. Civilian Conservation Corps camps were established
in four locations throughout the county and the men and boys were set to work
doing everything from building roads to planting trees. Many other Public Works
programs such as artists of the Works Progress Administration created
additional enhancements such as sculpture, furniture and decorative ironwork for
the parks.
Both the
city and the county park systems would operate in tandem until the County
eventually absorbed the financially strapped City parks in 1937 in the midst of
the depression. The county continued both its physical expansion and program development
of parks during the postwar years, and has become nationally recognized as one
of the nations foremost urban park systems - a legacy to be cherished and
enjoyed by residents and visitors to Milwaukee
County for generations to
come.
The 15,000 acres of Milwaukee
County Parks we enjoy today is the result of the creation of the Milwaukee
County Park Commission in 1907 and the visionary thinking of the early
Commissioners. In addition to the parks that had already been established
within the limits of the City of Milwaukee
by the original City Park Commission (in existence since 1891), the new County
Park Commission had a much broader goal.
The visionary thinking of the
early Commissioners conceived of a park system that would form a "green
belt" or series of scenic drives and parks which would eventually encircle
the county. Parks were located in outlying areas to allow for population
expansion. Land was selected for its natural beauty and interest, always
bearing in mind its fitness for use in various forms of active and passive
recreation.
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