Milwaukee County’s Department of Health and Human Services considers park land open for development!

May 6, 2025  |  Topics: Issues

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Preserve Our Parks opposes housing development proposed for McGovern Park Senior Center

By Preserve Our Parks, with an introduction and photography by Eddee Daniel

Park land has always been incompatible with residential development for many good reasons. However, that hasn’t stopped Milwaukee’s Department of Health and Human Services from proposing that 30-50 housing units be built on top of a new Senior Center in McGovern Park. In a letter to the HHS Director, which follows, Preserve Our Parks (POP) explains why we categorically oppose the proposal.

The proposed new development would replace the aging but very popular current senior center. POP acknowledges both the need for replacing the center and the fact that the Parks Department cannot afford to do it. The Milwaukee County Parks Department has been woefully underfunded for decades and has a serious backlog of capital needs. While the HHS proposal is an attempt to solve this problem, it would create a worse problem instead. We at POP urge the County to take the worthwhile idea of combining a new senior center with affordable housing for seniors and put it somewhere outside of McGovern Park where it belongs.

McGovern is not the only park with an aging senior center. If this proposal is allowed to be built, it will be only a matter of time before all of the others will follow suit. You can help keep our parks inviolate. Info following the letter.

~ Eddee Daniel

Dear Director LaGrant-McClain,

Preserve Our Parks (POP) is an advocacy group created out of the need to stand up against inappropriate development in Milwaukee County Parks. As Parks funding has decreased over the last 40 years, there has been increased pressure from developers who see diminished park funding as an opportunity to cash in on open space.

Preserve Our Parks (POP) is opposed to developing the McGovern Senior Center, which is located in McGovern Park, into housing. Parks are not “shovel ready” land for development. McGovern Park, like all parks, exists for many reasons: recreation, green space, ecological health, and peace of mind to name just a few. This is NOT raw land awaiting development. There is a legacy in Milwaukee County of setting aside parks for current and future generations.

Let’s not be the generation that destroys this legacy.

The POP Board asks the director of Health and Human Services what other sites have been considered for housing? Have you explored other options? Park Land should never be a first or last resort option for development. Development of parks is, in short, a non-starter. McGovern Park is not available for development because it already has a use and should not be considered for any development looking for available land.

Housing is antithetical to everything our parks offer to citizens. Residents want privacy. Parks are public and open. Residents want to control their space. Parks preserves open areas which are the places where citizens exercise first amendment rights such as speech, assembly, etc. These rights are not available in private spaces. Residents want to park cars overnight. Park policy bans overnight parking in all parks. Residents want control that can include fencing their space or creating rules to keep others out. Parks are open and available and only elected board members can dictate rules for use. In short, these are the very reasons that parkland cannot be used for housing, and there are many more than this short list.

POP respectfully asks the director of HHS to cease consideration of park land for housing. It has been stated that other mixed-use projects such as public libraries successfully combine public services with private uses. But even the library projects did not take public parks for development. If the Director is seeking to develop mixed use housing and a Senior Center, then find appropriate private land available for development. It is not found in our public parks.

Sincerely,

Patricia D. Jursik

President, Preserve Our Parks

Here’s how you can help:

Contact County Executive David Crowley, your county supervisor, and County Parks Director Guy Smith to urge them to reject the current proposal.

County Executive David Crowley: (414) 278-4212 or email.

Parks Director Guy Smith: (414) 257-4782 or email.

Find your County Supervisor

Write your own letter to the HHS Director, or email: shakita.lagrant@milwaukeecountywi.gov

Shakita LaGrant-McClain, Director

Milwaukee County Health and Human Services

901 N. Milwaukee Street

Milwaukee, WI 53233

The other senior centers in Milwaukee County Parks

Photo essay of McGovern Park

This issue in the news:

Should Milwaukee County parkland be used for low-income senior housing? Some officials say ‘no’ (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Senior Center Housing on Parkland Faces Pushback (Urban Milwaukee)

Note: The featured photo at the top is of the McGovern Park Senior Center. For more information and additional photos of McGovern Park go to our Find-a-Park page.

Preserve Our Parks is an independent non-profit organization unaffiliated with Milwaukee County Parks Department. Eddee Daniel is a board member of Preserve Our Parks.

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