Can privatization save our parks?
In the lobby of the Mitchell Park Domes, right next to the new gift shop, is a display case holding the gold medal from the National Park and Recreation Association and the American Academy of Park and Recreation Administration. Milwaukee Parks won the 2009 award for “excellence in long-range planning, resource management and agency recognition.”
Just weeks after the award was announced, the County released an audit on deferred maintenance in the park system. The report concluded that the figure for needed repairs “likely exceeds $200 million, overwhelms available resources, and is rising.”
Scott Walker responded that there is no need for alarm. Reminding everyone about the gold medal, he said that the audit shouldn’t lead one to conclude “that there’s something wrong with the park system.”
On the contrary, the gold medal means there is no other conclusion to draw.
It is thoroughly appropriate that the gold medal is on display at the Domes. Not very long ago, the Domes were looking very seedy. “Demo through neglect,” the Domes’ director Sandy Folaron calls it. Paint was peeling. Windows were chipped. The interior looked as though nothing had changed since the first dome opened in 1964. Last one out, turn off the lights.
But the place has a new lease on life. The Domes now regularly presents a computer-generated music and light show, the lobby and bathrooms have been completely restored, the place has a new gift shop and education center and everything has a new coat of paint. The endless stream of school buses continue during the day, but at night, there are ethnic festivals and live concerts. The old stuffy Domes are a rockin’ place.
It’s worth recounting the patchwork that made all this happen. First, three philanthropists paid over half a million dollars for upgraded lights. Insurance claims paid to fix windows that cracked after the 2006 Falk Corporation explosion. The caterer was given a 10-year exclusive contract in exchange for a $250,000 commitment to upgrade the lobby and renovate the bathrooms.
The nonprofit organization Friends of the Domes gave the place a new coat of paint (and paid for the paint to boot) and secured additional funding. Oh, and the County paid to replace the ceiling.
There is no denying the achievement of getting all those pieces to come together so well. This jewel of the park system has been restored and people are again flocking to it. The Domes had 50,000 more visitors in 2009 than it did before the renovation.
There are similar successes. Bradford Beach is likewise back to its former glory thanks to grants from a host of local companies, most notably MillerCoors. And like the Domes, catering contracts at the Boat House and the Boerner Botanical Gardens included significant restoration costs.
Park Director Sue Black says, “obviously I need more money.” But she also says that even if she had it, she would still want to do things this way. Black argues that the payoff for this model extends well beyond the money it brings in. If you get a corporation to sponsor a clean-up day, you build goodwill for that park. If you bring a child in to plant a tree, that child will be less likely to tag the park pavilion.
Finally, money is money. Getting somebody to pay to renovate Bradford Beach, for example, frees up money to pay for long-delayed upkeep elsewhere.
The parks that everyone knows about are the low-hanging fruit, and those are now off the trees. What kinds of strategies are left for the parks that don’t have the same high profile? What caterer, what philanthropist, is going to pay for all those leaking ceilings, decrepit bathrooms and crumbling asphalt?
Add up all the private and philanthropic resources committed to Bradford Beach and the Domes and you come up with a generous $2 million. Great. Only $198 million more to go.
The park system is the legacy of people who lived many years ago. They did not have the resources we do and they built the system for their progeny, for us. Park leadership is succeeding admirably in doing everything that they can to preserve it.
But for all their successes, the system as a whole remains shamefully derelict. Eventually, Scott Walker or his successor will no longer be able to ignore that fact. Without additional tax revenue, parks will have to close or be sold or the whole system will come crashing down, a victim of “demo through neglect.”
When that happens, it will not be because park leadership was unable to think outside the box, or do more with less, or any of those other saws. It will be because the public simply didn’t value that legacy enough to pay for it.
What a compelling, sensible argument, Chris. Thanks. — Tom Strini
Note that these successes in our parks occurred DESPITE the “starve the beast” policy of college dropout and perpetually-grasping politician Scotty “Waukesha” Walker. His only solution, from the day he took office, has been to sell off our parks. He succeeded in selling a large parcel of parkland to his campaign contributors at Aurora, but proposals to sell Bender Park and other parklands were (thankfully) shot down by the County Board. When Milwaukee County residents voted to tax themselves to save parks and transit, Walker even vetoed that. His legacy is best symbolized by the innumerable crumbling facilities, closed restrooms and shut-off water fountains any summer cyclist will encounter repeatedly along the Oak Leaf Trail.
51% of Milwaukee County residents voted for the increase in the sales tax to benefit parks and transit. Those 51% of people can be proud they cared. It was the city and state politicians who decided we didn’t know what we wanted and they should be ashamed of subverting the democratic process.
We are today looking at the legacy of Scott Wrecker’s intentional, cynical neglect, exactly as Eastside Earl describes. THAT kind of privatization – bleeding the parks until you can sell them to your corporate overlords at fire-sale prices – we don’t need.
The kinds of partnerships happening at the Domes, Bradford, etc. do need to happen more, but there are also things that can be done at a more “retail” level. For instance, some localities are successful with voluntary user fees and donation boxes for trails, and historically, it was quite common to raise funds through bond and common-stock issues with no expectations of repayment; the Packers are the most obvious surviving example.
People do need to accept that some compromises are necessary. It’s been proposed to all limited, tasteful sponsor signage, akin to the “gas/food/lodging” signs on the Interstate, to be placed on the Oak Leaf Trail, directing people to nearby shops, dining, etc. This would also benefit tourists unfamiliar with the area, making Milwaukee County a more bike friendly destination – but the idea tends to get shot down by loud opposition to any kind of “commercialization” of the parks and trails. But think: how offensive would it really be to have small signs for PAYING convenience stores, restaurants, etc, near street connections?
It’s been proposed to ALLOW limited, tasteful sponsor signage…