The Milwaukee Post

July 26, 2013 • Milwaukee Post • 7 Latest jewel opens in Menomonee Valley Three Bridges Park touted as biggest city-owned park By RICH ROVITO Special to The Post MILWAUKEE – On a sunny Sunday morning with a crowd estimated at as many as 500 people looking on, the latest jewel in the redevelopment of the once blighted Menomonee Valley in Milwaukee officially opened to the public. Three Bridges Park, a 24-acre parcel situated along the Menomonee River, is touted as Milwaukee's biggest city-owned park and the largest park to be created in Milwaukee in decades. "This is totally overwhelming," said Laura Bray executive director of , Menomonee Valley Partners, a nonprofit organization that promotes revitalization of the area, as she surveyed the large crowd at a July 20 ceremony marking the park's opening. "There's a group of us and community members that have envisioned this park for years. It takes my breath away ." Three Bridges Park is a culmination of more than a decade of work toward what has been, in essence, a total transformation of the Menomonee Valley Bray noted. , "Today we mark the birth of this park. It's a celebration of the life to come," she said. "The park is still a bit bare. The seeds were just sewn and small trees were just planted. Over the seasons and over the years, all of Milwaukee can watch this park grow up." Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said the community is "witnessing a true renaissance right here in the Menomonee Valley ." "This is a proud day for our city We've . taken land that is under the control of the city through our Redevelopment Authority and we have worked with Menomonee Valley Partners to have this vision become a reality Barrett said. "This is a place where we ," can bring our children, where can get out and get some exercise and where we can have jobs and support our families." The park features two miles of accessible biking and walking trails, river access for fishing and canoeing, as well as three new bike/pedestrian bridges that connect area residents and workers to the new park and jobs in the Valley . The park covers the area between the 35th and 27th street viaducts along the southern bank of the Menomonee River. Federal, state and city governments, along with private supporters, have funded the Three Bridges Park project. A $25 million fundraising campaign, dubbed Menomonee Valley – From the Ground Up, generated capital for the project, which was completed about $1 million under budget, Bray said. About $2.5 million still needs to be generated to complete the campaign, she said. Todd Macheel and members of his family , Photos by Robert F. Borkowski/Special to The Freeman Above, a kayaker paddles on the Menomonee River under the 33rd Court Bridge in Three Bridges Park on Saturday. Below, spectators are led across the 33rd Court Bridge to the official opening of Three Bridges Park. who reside in the nearby Story Hill neighborhood rode their bicycles to the park to take in the festivities. "It's a great asset for Milwaukee," Macheel said. "It's a nice use of the space. I think it will be a family destination. We've been looking forward to the opening of the park." Macheel's daughter, Katerina, offered a more succinct assessment of the unveiling ceremony and the new park. "It's fun," she said. Menomonee Valley Partners and the Urban Ecology Center, which opened a Valley branch at 3700 W Pierce St., have . launched a grass-roots fund drive to raise the remaining support needed for science education and outdoor recreation programs for area youths and families, a land restoration effort in the new park and the building of community gardens and other park amenities. "We're excited about being poised right at the gateway to Three Bridges Park," said Glenna Holstein, branch manager for the Urban Ecology Center's Menomonee Valley location. "This park will become our outdoor classroom and it will become the outdoor classroom for all of the students in the schools that we work with." The Urban Ecology Center will "connect the community with a little bit of nature," said Lainet Garcia-Rivera, community program coordinator. The ceremony began with short group processions as the the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music samba unit performed. Several speakers addressed the crowd, including Forest County Potawatomi Chairman Gus Frank. "For years and years, the responsible citizens for the city of Milwaukee were trying to have their voices heard saying that we need to do something that would reflect the culture of the Potawatomi people and the culture of the early immigrants that came here," Frank said. Protesters briefly interrupted the start of the ceremony A man who said he represent. ed the Palermo's Workers Union activated a siren on a bullhorn before launching into accusations that anhydrous ammonia stored on the property of Palermo Villa Inc., which operates a frozen pizza production plant in the Menomonee Valley adjacent to Three , Bridges Park, poses a safety threat. One Palermo supporter shouted: "We don't want another West, Texas." An explosion at a fertilizer plant in the small town of West in April killed 15 people and leveled several homes and a school. Several other protesters feigned death, leaving some onlookers bewildered in what otherwise was an upbeat and festive ceremony Many in the crowd jeered the protesters . once they realized what was occurring, while one attendee yelled "We love Palermo's." Milwaukee police officers and other security personnel quickly halted the protest. The independent workers union and Palermo management have been involved in a lengthy and contentious labor dispute. Palermo spokesman Evan Zeppos called the disruption of the ceremony a "desperate and despicable" act on the part of the union. He also scoffed at accusations that Palermo presented a safety hazard. "The safety of the workers at the plant is priority No. 1," Zeppos said. Clarification The front-page headline in the July 19 issue of the Milwaukee Post stated that Three Bridges Park was a new county park.To clarify, the park is not owned or managed by Milwaukee County Parks. It is an ownership and management arrangement between the city of Milwaukee and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.We apologize for error.

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