We've been flooded with brilliant ideas to restore Milwaukee County Parks. Send us yours.
The Milwaukee County Park system is the crown jewel of our community.
A recent report by the City Parks Alliance through the Trust for Public Land found that Milwaukee ranked 21st among the 100 most populous US cities in 2024, which is a testament to our community's pride. According to the report, “91% of Milwaukeeans live within a 10-minute walk of a park."
Milwaukee County Parks are at a crisis point, according to a recent Wisconsin Policy Forum report. The Daniel Hoan Foundation parks contest was launched to solicit innovative ideas to help restore these jewels and also reduce operating costs.
We need your help. And ideas for saving Milwaukee County's Parks. We'll pay, too.
We are deeply grateful for the record number of ideas and suggestions we have received from the community. I'm sharing some here in the hopes of encouraging more before the deadline of Aug. 10:
Create an “Adopt-a-Tree” program that would permit residents to invest some sweat equity in maintaining and beautifying the parks. This program borrows ideas from “Adopt-a-Highway” programs, which permit volunteer groups to pick up trash and do simple roadside cleanup and clearance tasks.
Collaborate with tech companies and universities to pilot innovative park maintenance and sustainability solutions. For example, partnerships could focus on developing eco-friendly materials, renewable energy projects, or advanced waste management systems
Install state-of-the-art sensors to monitor park conditions in real-time, such as identifying litter levels, water users, energy consumption, and maintenance needs, hence allowing proactive upkeep. This approach could also include automated irrigation and lighting systems that use data from weather forecasts and sensor readings to optimize water and energy use, thus reducing operational costs.
Transition to a “conservancy” model, the public-private partnership that provides the vehicle for funding the full needs of the system. The structural model for this approach is New York City’s Central Park Conservancy, along with other conservancies in that city.
Encourage local businesses and corporations to adopt sections of the park system in exchange for financial contributions or in-kind services. Companies participating get branding opportunities and positive community recognition. Establish limits for how parks can be branded and how companies can use parks to promote their products and services
Appoint volunteer park ambassadors to gauge what needs are to be fulfilled at their location, whether it be lawn care, plumbing, masonry, or something else. They must be able to provide the necessary services to upkeep their location. The ambassadors can provide services through personal contacts or submit requests via city services.
Create periodic 50/50 raffles in a lottery style to raise funds from neighbors surrounding a park.
Use crowdsourcing as instrumental in alleviating the fiscal strain on Milwaukee County’s Park maintenance efforts. By tapping into the collective power of engaged citizens, we can reduce the financial burden on local governments and foster a profound sense of community ownership and pride in our cherished green spaces. It would empower residents to actively participate in the care and stewardship of their neighborhood parks through a user-friendly platform or mobile application.
Innovation the key to manage daunting park problems
Guy Smith, Director of the Milwaukee County Parks, has indicated he's looking forward to receiving the innovative ideas from the contest. There's a reason he has been able to manage the daunting problems of our parks: he believes that innovation is the key to resolving each challenge.
The contest will close on Aug. 10, 2024. If you have an idea and want to be eligible for $30,000 in prizes awarded to the winners, submit to https://innovatemkegov.org
Referendums on August ballot confusing. If they pass, expect more gridlock in Madison.
The judges who will review the entries have now been appointed, and include:
Sheldon Wasserman, County Supervisor and Chairman of the Parks Committee
Rebecca Stoner, Executive Director of the Milwaukee Parks Foundation
Rob Henken, Senior Advisor to the Wisconsin Policy Forum
Jen Hense, Executive Director of the Urban Ecology Center
Daniel Steininger is president of the Daniel Hoan Foundation. He is Daniel Hoan's grandson.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee County Parks at a crisis point after deferred maintenance
