Hoyt Park: the trees lose again

Anyone who has driven anywhere along the Menomonee River Parkway in the past several months knows that it's being reconstructed a little at a time. Most of it is pretty much completed by now, except for one last stretch along Hoyt Park (where I happen to live!) One small component of the large project is the rehabilitation of the Hoyt Park pedestrian suspension bridge, which connects the park proper with Hoyt Park Pool. It will be a great relief to see those sadly needed repairs.

However, there's always a catch, isn't there? So often the catch is tree removal. And so it is with the bridge. I happened to be driving by yesterday and saw a crew lopping off limbs over the bridge. They were back again to day clearing more trees on the other side of the river.

Eschweilers to come down as Echelons rise: Photo essay

Followers of the Milwaukee County Grounds likely have already heard the sad news: At least two of the four historic Eschweiler buildings are to be "partially" demolished. The Mandel Group, which is in the midst of constructing their Echelon apartment complex in a ring around the site, has plans for all four. The former Administration building is to remain as a centerpiece to the Echelon development. The small engineering building may be converted into a single family home. The dormitory and dairy buildings are to be demolished down to the first floor. The remnants are to be re-purposed as "walled gardens."

There's more to the story, which was covered nicely and very thoroughly by WUWM's Susan Bence & Michelle Maternowski. To read it click on: Striking An Imperfect Balance: Development, The Eschweilers & Monarch Butterflies .

I thought I'd add a few visuals to the story, so I went out yesterday and walked around the entire site to document the current situation:

The Eschweiler Administration building (left), which is to remain, and the northernmost apartment building under construction. View from Discovery Parkway.

The dairy building (background) has had its roof tiles removed. The interior is being gutted prior to deconstruction. The Administration building is on the right. New windows and roof tiles have already been installed.

The apartment building in the northwest corner of the site was the first to get underway and is the furthest along. View from the Monarch Trail.

Workers constructing one of the Echelon buildings (foreground) while other workers remove roof tiles from the Eschweiler dormitory building (background).

View looking southeast from the Monarch Trail of the Echelon complex (left) and the ABB building (right).

View looking northeast from the Monarch Trail of the Echelon complex.

Milkweed pod spreading its seeds on the Monarch Trail.

To see more photos of the County Grounds, go to my Flickr album. 

The Friends of the Monarch Trail and followers of the County Grounds have their eyes on another issue. The section of the grounds known as the east woods, which is located north of the power plant and Ronald McDonald House (see map below), has long been an area of concern as the last remaining segment that may or may not be preserved. I've written about it before, but there will be more to come.

 

The Milwaukee County Grounds: A visual meditation

Two brief photo meditations, actually. The first is an update on construction progress for the Eschelon Apartments project at Innovation Park. Following that, signs of spring in Wil-O-Way Woods include early wildflowers and a concrete recycling operation on the future site of the Forestry Exploration Center.

Eschelon Apartments rising at Innovation Park

The Monarch Trail

Wil-O-Way Woods

Construction update on County Grounds: A photo essay

If you’ve driven along Swan Boulevard through the County Grounds lately you will have noticed, perhaps with some shock, the broad section of woodland that has been mowed down. Located directly across from the Discovery Parkway entrance to Innovation Park, this eventually will become the access road for the Forestry Exploration Center, which is planned to be built next to the DNR’s Wil-O-Way Woods. I was first alerted to this development by someone who noted the irony of beginning the Forestry Exploration Center project by clear-cutting the forest. (Although, to be "fair and balanced," while it is disturbing and I wonder why such a wide swath was considered necessary, a substantial percentage of those trees were invasive species.)

Future site of the Forestry Exploration Center - -

On the hilltop nearby, where Innovation Park is located, the Echelon Apartment complex is beginning to rise around the historic Eschweiler buildings, the fate of which (the last I heard) is still hanging in the balance.

At the other end of the Innovation Park campus new power lines are connected to the substation that has been added to the County Grounds power plant.

Meanwhile the hotel that was planned for the vacant lot overlooking that plant has been delayed indefinitely. According to a story in Wauwatosa NOW, the developer requested funding from the city because the fill that had been placed on the site has settled and needs to be stabilized. That request was denied by the common council.  

Last stretch of concrete to be removed from Menomonee River

Preparation is underway for the removal of the last section of concrete channel from the Menomonee River. The project area runs from the Wisconsin Avenue viaduct through Piggsville to Miller Park. The current work being done is to install two diversion pipes along the sides of the existing channel. These pipes are intended to carry the flow of water during demolition and reconstruction.

New sections of pipe are attached at the upstream end of the line (above). After being welded together, the entire pipe must be dragged downstream by this tractor (below), which can pull the 200,000 lb. load.

At the downstream end of the line, just past the I-94 overpass, ice is being removed from the channel.

When completed the concrete channel will be replaced with rock, as was done with the previous stretch, which was done in 2013-2014 (below). To see a previous photo essay of that project, click here.

The purpose of the channel reconstruction is to remove the outdated, ineffective flood control channel, return the river to a more natural state and enable fish to migrate freely. To read more about this project, go to the MMSD website.

The County Grounds at the close of 2014

Followers of this blog will understand that I've been preoccupied with the Menomonee Valley for the past year as I served in my capacity of Artist in Residence there. (I have a new website dedicated to that work: Menomonee Valley.) But although I haven't written much about it I haven't completely neglected the County Grounds. Here is a year-end update and photo essay.

Amur maple, Eschweiler quadrangle

The biggest news has been the developments on and around Innovation Park. The Watertown Plank Rd. interchange is nearly complete and ground was broken for the apartments that will be built around the Eschweiler complex - the fate of which still hangs in the air.

The planned construction has of necessity led to more tree cutting near the Eschweiler complex. One beautiful maple in particular was documented throughout the year by Fred Retzlaff and the Friends of the Monarch Trail. The following sequence, from March through Sept. is Fred's:

This next shot is the one I took from the same location shortly after the groundbreaking in November.

More images from Innovation Park:

Oct., before tree clearing

The new Monarch Trail

The trail winds around the ABB company building

The maintenance building demolition in progress

On another part of the grounds, trees were cleared on the DNR's portion where the Forestry Exploration Center is planned to be built eventually.

A stand of cedars that had been planted in a straight line when this was still the county nursery was sacrificed.

Wil-O-Way Woods so far remains intact.

It is always nice to discover signs of wildlife out on the grounds, as here in the west detention basin.

Season's Greetings from the Urban Wilderness out here in Wauwatosa!