Who Wants To Redesign Red Arrow Park?
Downtown park on Water St. targeted for redesign to increase its use and accessibility.
Ice skating at Red Arrow Park. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
The city and its partners are attempting to move a key project from the 2040 Downtown Plan from concept to reality.
As a first step, a request for qualifications (RFQ) was issued to hire a designer for a reimagined Red Arrow Park, 920 N. Water St. In early 2024, the city approved using $500,000 from a tax incremental financing district to fund the design work.
The park, located immediately north of Milwaukee City Hall, was created from a parking lot in 1970 and redesigned to include an ice rink and the warming house/cafe space in 1999.
The new Downtown Plan, approved in 2023, envisions making the park more of a destination as part of a broader “catalytic project” to make Water Street a complete street with improved pedestrian, bicycling and transit accommodations. The vision for Red Arrow Park, labeled an “additional priority project,” is to “improve [the park] as an active public space with year-round programming, improved park edges, more seating, places for protests and performances and a large sculpture on the upper terrace.” The plan also calls for the establishment of a new nonprofit group to maintain and program Red Arrow, Cathedral Square Park, Zeidler Union Square, and Pere Marquette Park.
The request for qualifications is being jointly pursued by Milwaukee County, the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee Downtown, Business Improvement District #21. The 1.20-acre park is formally owned by the county, but is heavily used by Milwaukee Downtown for events and occasional city events.
“This is an incredible opportunity for the project team to work with qualified design professionals to develop alternatives that further enhance Red Arrow Park as one of the most important places in Downtown’s public realm,” said Matt Dorner, economic development director for Milwaukee Downtown, in a statement. “We look forward to the dynamic solutions that will be generated through a robust public engagement process.”
The longtime Starbucks cafe on the park’s edge is slated to be replaced by Bigby Coffee, a Michigan-based chain with Milwaukee franchisees. Milwaukee County Parks announced Bigby in December as the winner of a request for proposals. Above the cafe space, MGIC‘s corporate headquarters includes a privately-owned plaza that provides mid-block pedestrian connections to the park east to N. Broadway.
The design project is slated to begin in earnest in 2025. RFQ responses are due Oct. 18.
The Red Arrow name is a formal recognition of the U.S. Army’s 32nd Division which fought in France in World War I. The division comprised National Guard members from Wisconsin and Michigan and was given the nickname ‘Les Terribles.” It suffered more than 14,000 casualties in six months. The arrow moniker is a nod to breaking through the Hindenberg Line in 1918. The name continues to be used today by a constituted division. An eight-foot-tall granite monument, in the shape of a red arrow, is located in the middle of the park.
The park’s history also includes tragedy. In 2014, Dontre Hamilton was killed after sleeping in the park by Milwaukee Police Department officer Christopher Manney, which spurred Manney’s firing, a public push for change to police practices and a sobering documentary. Since the tragic shooting, the park has become a frequent gathering place for protests.
History buffs will note that the park is the second Red Arrow Park in Milwaukee. The original park was on the south side of W. Wisconsin Avenue between N. 10th and 11th streets. But the park was demolished to make way for the north end of the Marquette Interchange, which still fills the site today.
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“The plan also calls for the establishment of a new nonprofit group to maintain and program Red Arrow, Cathedral Square Park, Zeidler Union Square, and Pere Marquette Park.”
Some things to combine might be purchasing, staffing, training,
and general tourism promotion.
Each site should have its own manager. Too many aspects and needs are individual to each site. Four sites, 4 minds, focused without distraction. Business, logistics, scheduling, traffic, and other relationships with adjoining neighbors would be one example.