City officials are asking residents to help shape the next chapter of Red Arrow Park, as work begins on a redesign of one of downtown’s most visible and historically important public spaces.
The effort grows out of Connec+ing MKE: Downtown Plan 2040, the city’s long-range plan for the central business district. That plan identifies Red Arrow Park as a priority project and calls for investment in parks, plazas and streets to make downtown more vibrant, inclusive and resilient.
Now, the focus is turning to what that means on the ground at Red Arrow Park, and city leaders say community input will set the direction.
A new “living room” for downtown
Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21, along with the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County Parks, has hired a design team led by Philadelphia-based landscape architecture firm OLIN and Milwaukee’s The Kubala Washatko Architects (TKWA). The team was chosen after a competitive process that drew more than a dozen proposals.
Project partners describe their goal as turning Red Arrow Park into Milwaukee’s “living room,” a central gathering place for workers, residents and visitors in every season. They see the park as a future hub for cultural events, civic expression and everyday use, rather than a space that feels busy only during the ice-skating season.
Temporary changes in recent years, such as moveable seating, public art and more programming, have helped bring new activity to the park. Still, studies of the space have found that its current layout, circulation and edges limit how people move through and spend time there, and that it could better support flexible, people-centered uses.
How residents can take part
To move the project forward, the city amended Tax Incremental District 48, which covers the Park East area, to include funding for planning and design work for the park. That funding covers the design phase only. Money for construction has not yet been identified.
The city and its partners have launched an online survey asking residents how they currently use the park, what feels welcoming or unwelcoming, and what features they would like to see in the future. The survey is being shared through city and Milwaukee Downtown channels, along with a sign-up form for email updates and future engagement opportunities.
The formal redesign process is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2025. It will include public meetings, stakeholder conversations and more chances for feedback as the design team develops several options. Those concepts will be refined based on what the public says, and a preferred design will eventually be selected and used to develop cost estimates and a fundraising strategy.
City planners say that listening first and drawing later is intentional. The broader downtown plan calls not only for better-designed public spaces, but also for better long-term management and programming to keep those spaces active and welcoming.
A compact park with a long history
For a park that covers about 1.2 acres, Red Arrow carries a notable amount of historical and emotional weight.
The name comes from the 32nd “Red Arrow” Division, a National Guard unit with deep Wisconsin roots that saw combat in both World War I and World War II. The original Red Arrow Park was created in the 1920s along West Wisconsin Avenue as a tribute to those soldiers. That first version of the park was removed in the 1960s to make way for the Marquette Interchange.
In 1970, the park was re-established at its current site on North Water Street next to City Hall, on what had been a surface parking lot. Over the years it gained the Red Arrow monument, a red granite marker with a flagpole and plaques added in 1984, and in 1999 the ice rink and support building that turned it into a winter attraction.
More recently, Red Arrow Park has become a focal point in the city’s conversations about policing, race and mental health. In 2014, Milwaukee police officer Christopher Manney shot and killed Dontre Hamilton after an encounter in the park. Manney was later fired for violating department policy but was not criminally charged. Hamilton’s death helped fuel local organizing and ongoing calls for reform.
In 2022, a memorial bench and plaque honoring Hamilton were installed in the park after action by the Milwaukee County Board and collaboration with his family. The bench is intended both to remember Hamilton and to encourage discussion around mental health, particularly in Black communities and among veterans, which connects back to the park’s original military dedication.
Project materials state that both the 32nd Division monument and the Hamilton memorial will remain, and that the redesign is expected to highlight and better integrate them into the overall park experience.
You can submit your feedback here.
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