County changes plan to eliminate signature loop roadway in popular park.
County changes plan to eliminate signature loop roadway in popular park. Back to the full article.
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I have differences with Lipscomb & the board but he, Taylor, the board and Urban MKE did a good job. The original proposal was “rammed down our throat” in a sneaky underhanded way. (Not sure if that’s physically possible but Frank Luntz has a way with words). Now we the people can maintain our park integrity and enhance our world class course. Frankly we took another step towards “Make Brown Deer Park great again”
I still have doubts that the number of people using the driving range will expand exponentially as the supporters projected. I sure hope so. As far as Stritch rescinding their offer, not really. Their “offer” was to take the existing fees they were paying and diverting them to the road. We are where we were before but with so much more driving range revenue.
Hats off to Michael Horne and Urban Milwaukee! “Sunshine” is a great disinfectant when it comes to cleaning up governmental bad actions.
Let this be a reminder to county officials that our parks were created for everyone, not just certain segments of the population. There are way too many ways to “privatize” the wonderful legacies handed down to us by the likes of the great Alfred Boerner and Charles Whitnall, as well as Frederick Law Olmsted and others. Keep all of our parks public!
And keep hunting on those trails and digging up dirt, Michael Horne!
Michael, could you explain the drawing a bit more? Are the Xs current roadways that will be vacated/rerouted?
This sounds like a positive result of “creative crowdsourcing” and seeking a solution that addresses the needs and concerns of ALL park users (plus the historic park’s design integrity). It also reveals why we need engaged county supervisors representing citizens and looking out for the greater good, not for limited interests (golfers, in this case).
RE: “Parks Director John Dargle said that the plans to expand the revenue-producing driving range had been under ‘conversations and discussions for many years.'” Those conversations may well have been happening, but mostly behind closed doors.
Thanks for this most excellent news. I can finally exhale.
Thoughtful citizenry in charge of making changes and upgrades to a golf facility located within Brown Deer Park would’ve avoided the controversy in the first place.
One thing citizens could push for would be Park Advisory Councils for respective parks with citizen reps. Numerous top-ranked cities have them, including Chicago and Seattle. Boston also has a citizen review-board process for making changes, especially for historic parks.
http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2017/01/06/5-cities-with-model-parks-systems/
Thank you for pushing to preserve the loop! I run it a couple times a week, weather permitting. Last weekend I jogged into the park from Calumet and found the road torn out so construction has begun. Good to know that a compromise was reached. I support the golf course as well.