Grand opening of Menomonee Valley's new 3 Bridges Park: a photo essay

3 Bridges Park opened yesterday on an auspiciously bright morning. Hundreds of people joined three processions that led from the eponymous bridges towards a platform next to the Menomonee River. There they heard Mayor Barrett, the directors of the two sponsoring organizations, Menomonee River Partners and the Urban Ecology Center, and other dignitaries and community activists talk about their excitement about the new park. Following the speaches and a ribbon cutting there was music and festivities throughout the 24-acre park.

You can read much more thorough stories about the day's event at JSOnline and The Active Pursuit. Here are a few of the photographs I took of the festivities. (I also was there to shoot portraits of people attending the event. Check back to see those. It'll take me a few days to process and upload them all.)

A trio of musicians leads one of the three processions from the bridge at 33rd Ct. in the center of the park.

The processions marched along newly paved multi-use paths that are an extension of the Hank Aaron State Trail.

Drummers leading a second procession from the bridge at the east end of the park, which connects to the Mitchell Park Domes.

The procession that came from the bridge at the east end of the park merges with the group from the 33rd Ct. bridge.

Mayor Barrett headlines the list of distinguished speakers who extolled the significance of the park for the neighborhood, the Menomonee Valley, the City of Milwaukee and the larger community.

Alderman Murphy (in red shirt), a long-time advocate for the park and the Valley, joins the throng of spectators crowding the narrow paths between newly seeded slopes of park land.

Several children join in the ribbon cutting along with the mayor, the alderman, and the directors of MVP and UEC, Laura Bray and Ken Leinbach, respectively.

The dignitaries toss handfulls of seed to symbolize the potential of the park.

De la Buena, a local band, provided entertainment with a Latin flavor.

UEC staff led popular kayaking demonstrations throughout the day from the newly created ramp that slopes down to the river.

Younger members of the crowd could elect to have their faces painted with floral and animal designs.

There were plenty of cyclists pedaling throughout the park all day. This is the Valley Passage bridge at the west end of the park.

There was also one prominent unicyclist, UEC director Ken Leinbach, who traveled the length of the park in his inimitable, unique style.

Postscript: I've been asked by a number of people how to get to the park.
Here is a link to a map.