Harley-Davidson May Revamp Highland Park

Highland Park. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

The Harley-Davidson Foundation has plans to invest in the rehabilitation of a county-owned park near its corporate campus on the Near West Side and may, in exchange, seek a name change for the park.

The park in question is Highland Park, 4000 W. Highland Blvd. Both any modifications and a name change for the park would require approval by the Milwaukee County Board. A public-input meeting for the project has been scheduled for Saturday, April 8 with representatives of Milwaukee County Parks and Harley-Davidson.

Highland Park is a 3.4-acre park sandwiched between the corporate campuses of Harley-Davidson and Molson Coors. The park is unique within the system for the fact that many of its visitors are employees of the two companies. The park is also adjacent to a number of surface parking lots, at 3700 W. Juneau Ave., which the motorcycle company is planning to redevelop into a large community park. Planned for the center of the park is a large multi-use event space called “The Hub.”

“[The park’s] circular layout is defined by a combination of motorcycle driveways and turning circles, parking bays, sidewalks, plants and seats, and 360-degree viewpoints. The Hub will be built with 10 types of locally sourced brick, natural wany-edge timber, and weathered steel with a beautifully warm patina,” according to a press release from the company.

The proposed Highland Park project is meant to dovetail with the new park the company is planning. James Tarantino, deputy director of Milwaukee County Parks, told Urban Milwaukee that the department doesn’t know the dollar value Harley would invest — noting that it would likely be “substantial” — or what the company would request for a name change. Highland Park is named for the road it sits on.

“They want to see the whole area kept up with,” Tarantino said, explaining that the investments would make for a “consistent looking campus.” Though Highland Park would remain a public park.

In 2022, the parks department removed a playground from the park, which was the oldest in the system. “It didn’t make sense to replace it with a new one because we’re heavily investing in Washington Park, which is walking distance from Highland,” Tarantino said. At the time, the department was planning to replace the playground with exercise equipment, Tarantino said, which was something the department had discussed with the two nearby companies many years prior.

If the project moves forward, parks will work with Harley-Davidson on planning, so as to not duplicate anything the company has built for their new park. Highland is a small park, and that limits what the parks department can invest in there. If the project moves forward, “it’s just going to look nicer,” Tarantino said.

Public Meeting April 8

County Supervisor Peter Burgelis, who represents the park in District 15, is holding a public meeting for the project on Saturday, April 8 to give nearby residents an opportunity to weigh in on changes at the park, as well as the possible name change.

The meeting will be held at 10 a.m. at the Washington Park Senior Center, 4420 W. Vliet St.

The Hub Renderings