Milwaukee County boasts an abundance of parks – more than 140.
One of them, Johnsons Park on 19th and Fond du Lac, has had the “unenviable” distinction of being rated the worst, at least according to a study a few years back by the Public Policy Forum.
But WUWM Environmental Reporter Susan Bence recently visited the park and found a transformation underway.
A little rain isn’t going to stop this bulldozer and power shovel from removing a 14-foot high berm from Johnson's Park.
“They’re finding some interesting stuff over there, big slaps of concrete and pieces of cars and stuff."
Marcia Caton Campbell, umbrella in hand, is looking on with excitement. She knows this park’s story inside out.
“This was essentially the heart of the African American community. There were movie theaters, food markets; all the kinds of businesses that existed at that time that supported a life here. Okay, so now we fast-forward to the era of urban renewal an d freeway construction and this was supposed to be part of the Park West Freeway,” Caton Campbell says.
Hundreds of homes were demolished along the proposed route, but the freeway was never built.
Caton Campbell says Johnsons Park was built in the early 80s as compensation to the community and to honor Clarence and Cleopatra Johnson, well-respected early leaders in the African American community. But the 13-acre parcel has had few amenities. It lacks the ponds, paths and pavilions found in other county spaces and stands dark at night.
Caton Campbell says even the berms that roll around the edges of the park turned out to be a poor decision. They block the view of what's happening within the park and that's resulted in “perceived safety issues.”
“Was is more than perceptions,” I ask.
“Yes, it was, it was. In 2002 a young teen age boy was beaten and left in a coma in the park,” Caton Campbell says.
It was that same year that several organizations, including Preserve Our Parks and the NAACP pledged to help turn the park around.
Five years ago Caton Campbell’s group entered the picture: the Center for Resilient Cities. It’s a non-profit organization that helps revive urban neighborhoods.
“Were neighbors skeptical,” I ask.
“Oh sure, a number of different projects had been proposed over the years and none of which came to fruition, and so the community was quite frustrated,” Caton Campbell says.
This time around, all the talk led to concrete designs and neighbors weighed in on what they liked and did not like about each version.
Alice Weddle says she attended every meeting.
“I was feeling wonderful, I felt like it was about to happen for real. And when I saw the guys digging over there, I said, I grew up in this neighborhood, even before it was even a park,” Weddle says.
Weddle raised her family on the northwest side, but six years ago, moved back.
“And my sister wondered why I was doing something so stupid. They say it’s really bad down that way,” Weddle says.
Even though the park still pretty much consists of grass, clusters of trees and a rundown play area, Weddle says enthusiasm about the neighborhood is growing.
The 54 year old, who's fighting diabetes and high blood pressure, was a founding member of the Johnsons Park Health Alliance, an offshoot of all the “talk.”
This morning, like every morning for the past three years, she meets up with a handful of other women who walk laps around the park.
“Rain or shine,” Weddle says.
Weddle is looking forward to an expanded walking path and a park pavilion that will come later.
Another ripple effect of the park planning is the community garden that's been growing across the street, Alice's Garden.
“This is truly an urban garden. There’s glass and bottle tops and rocks.”
Sue Lamb’s family settled in the neighborhood in the 1960s. She says the garden started two years ago with a handful of plots. This year people have been tending nearly 30 plots and almost as many families are on a waiting list.
Lamb says every Tuesday evening from spring through fall, the gardeners gather to learn from each other.
“And as we harvest, we share. Somebody left me a cabbage. Whatever you have too much of, you know, we share,” Lamb says.
In the next week or so, workers will replace the six foot tall metal fence surrounding the garden with something lower and less industrial looking and eventually add benches, bike racks and a tool shed. Lights will illuminate the garden and it won’t be long before Johnsons Park glisten under street lamps.
Over the coming years six million dollars will be spent, some public but most private, to continue creating the Greater Johnsons Park Initiative.
Gardener Sue Lamb recalls a time, not too long ago, when someone shot up her house.
She hopes that what’s happening around Johnsons Park is a sign of hope for the future.
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