Image via Summerfest
While thousands of Milwaukeeans flock to the Henry Maier Festival Park grounds every summer, they’ll soon be able to enjoy a portion of the festival location year-round. On Wednesday morning, Summerfest announced the creation of the Northwestern Mutual Community Park, which will comprise of a redevelopment of the current Children’s Theater and Playzone in the central portion of the park.
In addition to making the park available as a public community space whenever there is not a festival, the new park area will be one of the most accessible playgrounds in Wisconsin. Priorities in the redevelopment of the play area include all new play equipment, with accessible playground surfaces, new family-accommodating bathrooms and an adaptable stage area to entertain families. A reconfiguration of the entire play space will make room for activation areas, as well.
“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with the Northwestern Mutual Foundation to provide children and families of our community a fun and accessible entertainment experience. The redevelopment of this area has been a priority for some time, and we cannot wait to see the children enjoying this new amenity,” said Don Smiley, President and CEO of Milwaukee World Festival, Inc. via statement. “We are exceptionally grateful to all of our sponsors for their support in making Henry Maier Festival Park a world-class venue for fans of all ages.”
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If you’ve been through the currently accessible portions of Henry Maier Festival Park recently, you’ve seen that the redevelopment of the play zone has already begun, with the play equipment being removed to make room for the new area. Renderings of the new design show a more open, colorful play area, free of wood chips and other elements that would limit accessibility. No completion timeline has been announced at this time.
You can view the renderings for the new Northwestern Mutual Community Park below:
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