MENOMONEE VALLEY - FROM THE GROUND UP

We had a vision to bring two non-profits, the City of Milwaukee, and the State of Wisconsin together to transform a 24-acre brownfield into an active urban park, state trail, and outdoor science classroom. To turn a vacant bar into a community center and to reconnect communities separated for more than a generation. To rally our entire community around a forgotten, neglected area and fill it with children, families, bikers, and anglers to experience nature in the heart of Milwaukee.

Through this five year effort, we succeeded in:

• Extending the Hank Aaron State Trail by six miles and building three new bike/pedestrian bridges to connect neighbors to jobs and recreation in the Menomonee Valley;

• Transforming a vacant rail yard into Three Bridges Park, a thriving 24-acre park with revived wildlife habitats along the restored riverbanks of the Menomonee River, which also hosts outdoor recreation programs and serves as an outdoor science classroom; and

• Opening the Urban Ecology Center - Menomonee Valley branch with community and school-based environmental education programs that activate the park and engage the community.

Each year, the Menomonee River Valley gains hundreds of new residents. Tadpoles move into the wetland ponds and leopard frogs make a return to the river bank. Muskrats make cozy homes in the limestone boulders along the riverbank, killdeer nest in the fields, great blue herons spend days along the banks, and countless salmon and trout run upstream. These new inhabitants signal the health and vitality of the Valley environment and are proof that years of effort to restore the ecosystem are succeeding.

thank you to our donors

Thanks to the incredible support from 360 foundations, corporations, organizations, and individuals, we were able to fulfill the $25 million Menomonee Valley - From the Ground Up campaign in December 2014.

A permanent donor wall in the Urban Ecology Center and a donor sculpture in Three Bridges Park recognizes those who contributed more than $1,000 to this effort.  The sculptural arch has donors’ names inscribed on the interior, a symbol of what our community can accomplish when we come together.

We are grateful to ALL the donors that made this park possible. Three Bridges Park will continue to connect people to jobs, nature, and each other for generations to come. The results of the community’s generosity can be seen every day in the Urban Ecology Center Valley branch, Three Bridges Park, and along the Hank Aaron State Trail.