Wehr Nature Center Plans Improvements

Rendering of a new outdoor classroom at Wehr Nature Center. Designed by GRAEF.

Milwaukee County Parks and the Friends of the Wehr Nature Center are planning a series of improvements to the 220-acre nature preserve over the coming years.

Nature center staff worked with the friend’s group to develop a list of projects to complete over the next five years, ranging from trail improvements to a new outdoor classroom. The center is located in Whitnall Park in southwest Milwaukee County.

The friend’s group is leading on fundraising and has already funded conceptual designs, developed by GRAEF, for each project. Implementation will be dependent on the success of the fundraising campaign, with Parks providing support with staff and resources, said Carly Hintz, the center’s director.

In recent years, many friends groups have begun taking on a greater role in maintaining or improving the infrastructure in their local parks; collaborating with the parks department and the Milwaukee Parks Foundation to fundraise for projects and move them along. With 150 parks, 15,000 acres of land and an infrastructure maintenance backlog verging on $500 million, Parks has limited resources relative to the needs of the system.

Wehr Nature Center is celebrating its 50th anniversary, which the center and the friend’s group are hoping to capitalize on to fundraise, Hintz said. The two organizations are preparing to launch the fundraising campaign soon. The projects in the five-year plan are estimated to cost approximately $600,000, Hintz said.

They are also encouraging community feedback on the five-year project plan, and have created a public survey to gauge interest in the projects.

Below are descriptions of most of the projects:

Amphitheater Canopies

Large canopies would be purchased and installed to cover both the stage and the seating at the canopy. The coverings would allow the center and visitors to use the amphitheater more often; providing shade when it’s hot and cover from rain.

“We want to really activate that space,” Hintz said. “Right now it’s underutilized, and we’d like to do more with it.”

The covered stage and covered seating are listed as two separate projects in the five-year plan.

Outdoor Classroom

The demand for building and facility rentals at Wehr Nature Center has increased, Hintz said. And these rentals have become and important piece of how the parks department generates the funding necessary to run the system each year.

Hintz said that to balance the need to generate revenue with the nature center’s core mission of environmental education, an outdoor classroom would be constructed to provide additional facility space.

A three-season structure would be constructed within the existing service yard. Replacing the service yard is also on the project list.

Service Yard

The service yard includes three yards, one of which has a roof that’s caving in. And in the 50 years since Wehr Nature Center has opened, the equipment used to maintain the park and natural preserve has expanded. A new service building would be constructed northwest of the center’s parking lot, and screened with fencing to keep it out of view of general visitors.

Nature Play Area

The nature center has a “great early childhood play space,” Hintz said, “but we don’t have anything that’s really for the upper elementary grades.”

The nature play area would be designed for those older, small children. It would be built out of natural materials, like wood, and allow children to build forts or play on structures that test their balance. “Things that could be a little bit more challenging for an older child to sort of level up,” Hintz said.

Owl Habitat

While owls live in the nature center’s natural areas, it’s been more than a decade since it has had an owl of its own. She said the plan is to build a new owl habitat so the center can acquire an owl, like an Eastern Screech Owl.

Trail Improvements

The nature center plans to improve a few of the most popular trailways. Heavy foot traffic, coupled with erosion, has degraded the popular Prairie Trail. The plan is to shore up two sections of the trail with logs and fill.

In a forested area of the preserve, running parallel to a creek, there is a trail that has become particularly popular among bird watchers. The foot traffic is overwhelming the area and social trails are being created, flattening local vegetation. The center would like to create a second trail that runs directly along the creek to accommodate the traffic.

The final component is the extension of the existing boardwalk. The boardwalk is one of the “most heavily used assets” in the park, Hintz said. The plan is to extend it all the way from the parking lot and ensure the trail is ADA-compliant.

“People with wheelchairs, walkers, canes, strollers, all types of people are coming, just to walk that Boardwalk,” Hintz said. “So it’s actually inspired a name change.”

Once completed, the boardwalk will be called the all-abilities trail.

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