Just weeks after opening, Harbor View Plaza is making a splash as a compelling public park off the beaten path. Located along Milwaukee’s inner harbor at the eastern end of Greenfield Avenue, it offers fascinating views of the urban skyline and Port Milwaukee. It’s also an innovative play space.
On recent weekend days, children waded in shallow, pebble-filled “marsh-like fountains” as burbling water emerged from limestone squares. Youngsters pumped more water into the space using well-style cranks. People also visit the park to launch a kayak or canoe, fill water bottles at a designated station or pause during a bike ride or lunch break. A bright orange lookout tower that doubles as a children’s slide will open this week in time for Harbor Fest on Sunday, Sept. 8 (see sidebar). Abundant seating allows adults to watch children play or simply enjoy panoramic views of a working Great Lake harbor.
Jay Kubnick from Milwaukee’s far South Side was among those checking out the park. He photographed the subtle fountains and sent images to out-of-state friends of what he called a “true Milwaukee bubbler.” A union carpenter, Kubnick was fascinated by materials used within the plaza, including a free-standing wall made from interlocking steel panels found in sea walls.
He also appreciated that a remnant concrete mooring pylon was retained and painted yellow and how images of fish were delicately cut within a metal gate. Karen Bennett called it “a sanctuary in the middle of the city; a hidden gem.” Amy Luang, a teacher, brought her children to the park after hearing word-of-mouth buzz about it.
Accentuating a Sense of Place
Harbor View Plaza is helping to highlight the Harbor District, a place with a rich and complex history. Water first drew people to the land that would become Milwaukee. A lush rice marsh gave way to a bustling port. An area once used almost exclusively for commerce is now being revitalized and reimagined to serve additional uses, including recreation and residential development.
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences opened its striking new building along Greenfield Avenue in 2015. Focusing on freshwater research and education, it is the only graduate school of freshwater science in the country. Harbor View Plaza, created on land owned by the City of Milwaukee, borders the school’s site.
|
|
“Harbor View Plaza responds to the lack of public access to the waterfront in this industrial area in the heart of Milwaukee and to the lack of park space on the near South Side,” said Lilith Fowler, executive director of Harbor District, Inc. The non-profit organization was created in 2014 “to achieve a world-class redevelopment of Milwaukee’s harbor that sets the standard for how waterfronts work—environmentally, economically and socially—for the next century.” The park was planned through extensive neighborhood input and a public design competition in 2016.
Jennifer Current, a landscape architect with Milwaukee-based Quorum Architects, spearheaded the competition’s winning design. She collaborated with Caitlin Blue, Jacob Blue and Bruce Morrow, three landscape architects from Ayres Associates, a Madison-based architectural and engineering firm. Current said that everyone involved in planning the plaza “wanted it to serve multiple functions and to make it appealing for the whole community—for people of all ages and interests. We did not want it to function solely as a playground or simply as a hardscape plaza.”
Since contemporary budgets for public spaces are often limited, the design team strived “to show that you can do a lot with a limited space by making it versatile.” For example, the plaza can seat about 100 people in various ways and accommodate pop-up concerts, movie nights and other special events. As Current said, “We wanted a tower within the park, so people could experience the vantage of a really long view. As we played with what that tower could be, we decided it could also function as a slide for children.”
Rockwell Automation, located nearby, and the Brico Fund were early supporters of redevelopment in the Harbor District. Lynde Uihlein, president of the Brico Fund, saw an opportunity in the neglected waterfront. “At the Brico Fund, we wanted to make sure that the revitalization of the Harbor District lived up to the extraordinary potential of the location but also that the outcomes were community driven.”
Harbor View Plaza is the culmination of a community planning project called “Take Me to the River.” Initially spearheaded by the City of Milwaukee’s Environmental Collaboration Office (ECO), the $1.5 million park project was funded by Rockwell Automation, the Fund for Lake Michigan, the Brico Fund, the Brookby Fund, the Zilber Family Fund and the Bloomberg Award for Partners for Places, the latter a project of the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities. Other significant donors included the City of Milwaukee, Komatsu Mining Corporation and the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.
Innovative Design Informs the Park
Although it’s among Milwaukee’s smallest public parks—just over a third of an acre—it demonstrates how thoughtful and creative design can yield a vibrant and high-functioning public space. The design relies on simple materials and structure within a layered story. “We wanted the space feel inviting and to reflect its surroundings and heritage without being highly industrial looking,” said Current.
This place’s history subtly informed the design narrative. The use of squares within a loose grid was inspired by grids in early maps of the area. “I like the idea of reintroducing the marsh, which was the pre-settlement landscape, in a way that also reflects the urban context and surrounding city forms,” Current said.
Custom elements are found throughout the water-oriented park, as well as other distinctive features:
- Jennifer Current’s custom railing design serves the typical function of safety at the water’s edge. However, “the staggered rhythm of the bars reflects the dynamics of the water, and the top rail is actually more like furniture, exaggerated in scale and tipped slightly to encourage people to rest there and slowly take in the expansive view,” Current said.
- The landmark lookout tower’s basic shape was constructed using shipping containers. Gear Grove, a Milwaukee-based firm that builds custom furniture, also incorporated heavy duty materials to make it safely function as a stairway and children’s slide.
- The benches and bike racks are comfortable and sleek and “were chosen to balance the heaviness of other materials within the plaza,” Current said.
- A water circulation and filtration system in the plaza captures storm water.
- White birch trees will provide shade as they mature.
- The compact space is fully handicap-accessible, including the boat-launch areas. It’s possible to move a wheelchair throughout the entire space without a designated ramp.
Harbor View Plaza is the first major investment in what is planned as a continuous network of a Harborwalk and waterfront parks spanning much of the western shore of the Harbor District.
More information about the plaza and district can be found at harbordistrict.org.
