By OnMilwaukee Staff Writers   Published Jun 24, 2009 at 12:30 PM

The first urban park specifically designed for an industrial neighborhood (that is quickly added residential, commercial and eventually retail)  in the City of Milwaukee was dedicated today by Mayor Tom Barrett, members of the Wisconsin Preservation Fund and members of the Zilber family.

The park is part of The Brewery, which is being developed by local real estate executive and philanthropist, Joseph J. Zilber.

Zilber Park was designed by D.I.R.T. studio, the nationally acclaimed landscape architects who won the first UWM Urban Edge Award.

Prominently featured is a bronze 7-foot statue of Joseph and Vera Zilber created by Koh Varilla Guild of Chicago, a Gabion wall constructed of recycled steel, fractured granite boulders and integral water and lighting fixtures is designed to provide a gentle waterfall in summer and creates an ever changing ice sculpture during the winter months. The park also has a crushed granite walking surface and a large storm water retention basin underneath.

The park was funded by Zilber, a grant from the Wisconsin Preservation Fund, storm water management funding from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and the City of Milwaukee. It will be administered by the new neighborhood improvement district created to cover The Brewery Development.