The Lindsay Heights neighborhood will soon have a new, sustainable public park for residents to enjoy this summer.
The "pocket park" is located on the corner of North 14th and Wright streets in Milwaukee. It sits on two formerly vacant lots.
The transformation is nearly two years in the making.
"We are here to celebrate a new park in Milwaukee, but this park symbolizes so much more," said Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett at the groundbreaking ceremony.
Ezekiel Gillespie Park will feature a sustainable food source, including fruit trees, raspberry bushes, and other native plant species. The Walnut Way Conservation Corp. will also install porous stones to capture rainwater to irrigate plants.
The park is the first development in the Mayor's Home Gr/Own initiative, a plan which aims to convert vacant lots to sustainable, inner-city food sources. The concept was a finalist in the nationwide Bloomberg Mayor's Challenge competition last year, and will manifest on a smaller scale locally.
Construction is underway now, and the park will open to the public in July. Click the podcast player to hear from Milwaukee's Director of Environmental Sustainability Matt Howard.
