Northwestern Mutual would like to purchase O'Donnell Park, which stands between its campus and Milwaukee's lakefront. County Executive Abele and some members of the Board of Supervisors have agreed to a proposed sale that would net the county $5 million. That is peanuts compared to what this prime land is worth on the open market. No piece of property in the State of Wisconsin is in a more lucrative location. Every taxpayer in the county ought to be asking the board why it can be considering such an ill-conceived sale.
The cost is secondary, however, to the principle of selling park land in the first place. Sure, O'Donnell is an under-loved park. But, as the following letter explains, we can do better than transfer it to private ownership in a firesale. The current proposal is a lose-lose proposition for us the taxpayers and citizens of Milwaukee County. Please tell this to your county supervisor. For a list of supervisors and contact info,
click here.
The following is an open letter to the county board urging it to preserve public control of O'Donnell Park. I've added my name to the list of signers. I hope you'll join me.
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CONCERNED MILWAUKEEANS URGE COUNTY BOARD TO PRESERVE THE PUBLIC'S STAKE IN O'DONNELL PARK
We, the undersigned, oppose the sale of O’Donnell Park to
Northwestern Mutual Life, or to any corporation or private individual. By
definition, parks are held in trust for the public interest. If this proposed
deal closes, Milwaukee County citizens and visitors will lose all rights to
this land legacy, not just the structures on it. The public will have no inherent say in decisions
regarding the park’s continued operations or its future designed use.
Regardless of any promises the proposed buyer has made
regarding “public access” and concessions to zoning and such, private owners
can do what they want with their land, within variable land-use parameters. Yes,
many businesses choose to let the public “enjoy” their private properties to
some extent. However, the only way that the public can retain any stake in the future
of O’Donnell Park is if the public holds
ownership of the land, as required in long-standing deed restrictions.
Public officials, as well as all citizens, are duty-bound stewards who must
honor these exacting covenants, just as executors of an estate must honor its
bequests in perpetuity.
O’Donnell Park has been unfairly, and repeatedly, portrayed
as a bleak garage with no intrinsic value. This 9.3-acre lakefront overlook did
not become a park by accident. It was set aside for the common good by
far-sighted leaders beginning in 1868. The short-sighted sale of this
multi-purpose park will deprive taxpayers of more than just the current
amenities and views O’Donnell provides and the substantial revenue it produces. It will also rob the public of any future
possibilities that visionary civic leaders and philanthropists may have for re-imagining
this priceless public land. For example, downtown Chicago’s dazzling Millennium
Park (also built above a parking structure) would never have happened if the
land on which it was built had not already been publicly owned. Public projects
that are supplemented by private contributions first require a vested public interest.
If this unprecedented sale is executed, how will citizens ever
stave off other schemes to privatize county or city parks?
We urge the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors to reject
this ill-advised sale. Whenever corporations across the U.S. want to help
“improve” public parks, they make designated donations for that purpose. Parks
drive economic development and eco-tourism, and increase property values, so
supporting them makes fiscal sense to businesses and individuals. Lease arrangements
can be used effectively to ensure that public assets continue to be managed for
the public good. This unnecessary sale of park land is simply an abdication of
the public trust.
We Milwaukeean County residents, of all ages, take pride in
our magnificent lakefront “emerald necklace.” We cannot afford to chip away at
this legacy through the arbitrary sale of our most valuable gem, the very downtown
gateway to our city’s treasured lakefront.
Signers
Philip Blank, President,
Public Enterprise Committee
Peter Blewett, Ph.D.; Former President, Milwaukee School Board
Diane Buck, Community
Activist and Art Educator
Tony Busalacchi, Past President, Milwaukee School Board; Past
President, City of Milwaukee Art Commission; Former Cultural History Educator
Eddee Daniel, Photographer, Writer and Art Educator
Daniel J. Diliberti, Former Milwaukee County Treasurer; Former
Milwaukee County Supervisor
Vincent Goldstein, MPS Social Studies Teacher
James Goulee, Former Regional Parks Manager, Milwaukee County Parks
Henry Hamilton III, Esq.,
Member, Lakefront Development Advisory Commission; Member, Milwaukee County
Parks Advisory Commission
Laurie Muench, Landscape Architect;
Retired Milwaukee County Park Planner
William Lynch, Esq., Chairman, Lakefront Development Advisory
Commission
Linda Nelson Keane, AIA, Professor of Architecture & Environmental
Design, Art Institute of Chicago; Placemaking Board, National Project for
Public Spaces
Mark Keane, Architect and Principal, Studio 1032; Professor of
Architecture; University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
William F. Kean, Professor Emeritus, Geosciences; University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Cheryl Nenn, Environmentalist
Keith Schmitz, Founding Member and Steering Committee Member; Grassroots
North Shore
Peggy Schulz, Writer, Third-generation Milwaukeean; Supporter of
Public Infrastructure
Walter Wilson, Fellow of the American Institute of Architects;
Retired Principal Architect, Milwaukee County
Anita Zeidler, Ph.D., Urban Education
