Just a few months after Boone and Crockett announced a major Riverwalk improvement in the Harbor District, the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee (RACM) has received $128,000 from the State of Wisconsin’s Coastal Management Program to further bolster the Riverwalk in the neighborhood.
The Node project, at 611 E. Greenfield Ave., will form part of a 4,300-foot Riverwalk extension along Komatsu Mining’s new South Harbor Campus. By modifying the site and its existing dockwall, The Node will create 3,000 square feet of new aquatic habitat with a spawning zone, new landscaping and native plants.
There will also be stairs and ADA-accessible ramps to allow access to the water.
The site is just across Greenfield Avenue from UWM’s School of Freshwater Sciences facility and will help facilitate educational opportunities around the harbor, the Great Lakes and fish habitats.
The City of Milwaukee has committed $14.5 million toward the design and construction of this Riverwalk segment. Construction is expected to begin in 2023.
“Thanks to the State of Wisconsin, this grant will add to our positive momentum by making The Node a reality, which will provide residents, visitors, and tourists the ability to view and touch the water,” said DCD Commissioner Lafayette Crump in a statement released Wednesday.
“Projects like The Node will help offer more educational opportunities in the harbor, promote equity on our waterfronts, and allow our youth to experience everything Milwaukee has to offer.”
The Riverwalk project began in 1993 and is now growing especially south of Downtown as development embraces the Harbor District. In addition to the Komatsu extension, The Node and the Boone & Crockett project, the City of Milwaukee will spend $3.4 million on a Riverwalk and dockwall work at the River1 development.
“Our waterways are a great natural resource, and as we add connections to the water, we celebrate this asset. Our Riverwalks have become centers of commerce and recreation that add to the vitality for all of Milwaukee,” said Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson in Wednesday's statement.
“I believe in the power of partnerships, and that’s what the Milwaukee Riverwalk is all about. Through the efforts of City government, local businesses, and residents that call our waterfronts home, we will continue working to enhance and grow Milwaukee’s Riverwalk system that will add value to the city’s waterways for decades to come.”
North of Downtown, a new residential development at 1887 N. Water St. will add another 480 feet of public Riverwalk, to which the City will contribute $2.1 million, and improvements are planned along the Lakefront segment of Riverwalk on Commerce Street.
In the Third Ward, the new tower on Water and St. Paul will also include a Riverwalk segment and dockwall replacement. The City has vowed $903,000 toward that project.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
