One of my pet peeves is the under use of public spaces (I know, I'm a dork).
Case in point: Red Arrow Park in Downtown Milwaukee in the summer. During the chilled months, it's a vibrant ice rink that's filled nearly every day and night. Music is piped out and the tenant, Starbucks, is busy and buzzing.
During the summer months, though, the ice rink area sits vacant. A few chairs are scatted about and once or twice Starbucks uses from a tasting event or a concert. But, mainly, it sits vacant, void and lifeless.
Why can't the rink buzz during the Summer? Let's open it up to roller and in-line skaters. Start renting skates, too. Heck, skate boarders should be welcomed, too. Good ideas? I think so. But, we'll need the blessing of Milwaukee County.
"It's a great concept and one that we need to consider, said Jeff Baudry, Marketing Director Milwaukee County Park System, via e-mail.
"The immediate hurdle is finding someone to fund the purchase of in-line skates for rentals. Perhaps there would be a manufacturer that would like to get some PR out of a community minded donation," he added.
Wow, ask and you shall receive: "We will move forward and see if we can locate such a partner -- if nothing else we can see if we can include something and budget towards it for next year," Baudry added.
Whatever happens, skating or no skating, Red Arrow's rink needs to be better used. Plants, public art, better seating. Something!
"It is a well situated park in the heat of downtown that could and should be utilized more in the summer," Baudry said.
I couldn't agree more.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
