Despite Groundbreaking, Fundraising Ongoing for Moss Universal Park

Site plan for Moss Universal Park.

The first major piece of a universally accessible park will be finished in time for Memorial Day weekend next year.

The Ability Center, a nonprofit focused on recreation opportunities for people with disabilities, is working to redevelop Wisconsin Avenue Park in Wauwatosa into a universally accessible park where every feature is designed to be accessible for children and adults with disabilities.

The organization, which operates out of the park’s clubhouse, began planning and fundraising for the $22 million project in 2023. It held a ceremonial groundbreaking that year, celebrating approval from Milwaukee County Parks and the Milwaukee County Board for the substantial changes planned for the county park.

On Sept. 16, another groundbreaking was held, this time celebrating the start of construction on one part of the park called the Universal Ballpark. The ballpark will include Universal Field, a full-size baseball field, and another softball and Little League field, Damian Buchman, executive director of the Ability Center, told Urban Milwaukee. Designs for Universal Field showed plans for surfacing that can support wheelchair baseball and softball.

“All will be turfed and lit to provide more gameplay and opportunity for all levels of baseball and more,” Buchman said in an email.

The total Universal Park design is split up into two phases of development. And with construction on the ballpark set to begin, The Ability Center is still fundraising for the larger aspects of the first phase of development, Buchman said.

The goal is to raise another $6 million over the next six months to support development of all of phase one, including a therapy and wellness pocket, a sensory-safe playground, a bigger parking lot and an adaptive sports garage. The complete first phase would also include a redevelopment of the clubhouse into a new accessible facility with updated restrooms and caretaker restrooms with changing tables for children and adults, and charging stations for mobility devices.

The second phase would build a half-mile accessible path through the park’s woods and a challenge course designed for people of all abilities.

The park is being named for the project’s largest benefactor to date, the late philanthropist and businessman George F. Moss. The $2.5 million donation from his memorial foundation provided important initial seed money for the project. Since then, the project has received donations from the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee and the Anon Foundation, as well as an $827,376 grant from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Universal Park is the Ability Center’s most ambitious project to date. The nonprofit was created by Buchman, whose experience with childhood bone cancer inspired him to create more recreational opportunities for people with disabilities. The organization has worked with private- and public-sector organizations to add accessible infrastructure, like wheelchair mats at Bradford Beach, or to create recreational programming, like free, organized wheelchair basketball and adaptive sports.

Once complete, Universal Ballpark will provide the organization with a dedicated venue for some of the sports — and just in time for the summer youth baseball season.

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