The currently closed and oft-controversial “Swing Park”—located beneath the Holton Street Bridge and next to the pedestrian Marsupial Bridge—may be transformed into a new community park known as “The Landing at Tannery Row.”
The City of Milwaukee revealed conceptual renderings of the reimagined park (and surrounding area) on Tuesday. They include conventional playground equipment, an “Art Screen,” a “River Theater,” native plants, stormwater planters, boardwalks, and more.
“The following presentation is a conceptual plan for the space, for which we’d like community feedback,” reads a website for the project. Folks can leave their feedback, through September 20, HERE.
The “Swing Park” has been closed for more than a year due to repair work on the Holton Street Bridge. That work is expected to stretch into 2025.
Before that closure, the park had become a sore spot for the city and the surrounding Brady Street neighborhood. (Meetings about safety at the park date back to 2018.) Multiple shootings and endless noise complaints were common. For a time, the “Swing Park” was even a popular setting for, ahem, amateur adult videos.
“Previous conversations with residents have revealed a need for increased safety measures and reconsideration of park use and programming,” reads the website. “It is still intended to still serve as a literal and metaphorical ‘bridge’ that welcomes people from all neighborhoods. As part of the 2024 budget process, Alderman Brostoff secured $50K to start the design process and make preliminary improvements to the space while we seek funding for the larger reconstruction.”
The area the “Swing Park” occupies was originally a “Media Garden” for the Marsupial Bridge Project, created in 2006. But in 2012, the website explains, “a creative placemaking group hung swings of all types in the space. Due to safety concerns, the City of Milwaukee removed the installation in 2013, but community support for the project led to a redesign and the installation of more conventional swings and safety surfacing in 2014. The space became known as ‘Swing Park.’
“In the time since,” continues the website, “a number of local housing developments have grown up around the park. Concerns from local residents over park use and activity led them to mobilize and re-imagine what the park could be and how it could better function for the changing neighborhood. The Holton Bridge project presents an opportunity to explore these possibilities while the park is closed to accommodate construction.”
You can find the full conceptual plans for “The Landing at Tannery Row” HERE.
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