by Jay Kirk

In a meeting held at the COA Youth & Family Centers, the Department of City Development outlined plans for the south end of Kilbourn Park. At the April 11 meeting, City Planner Peter Park and other members of the DCD presented a detailed landscape plan for the clear-cut hill below the park that drops down to Commerce Street. The DCD plan for Kilbourn Park and the adjoining bluff included landscaping for the side of the bluff as well as the area on both sides of Commerce Street. A street, which will contain single family houses, will be built about half way up the side of the bluff. Preliminary ideas for this area were first presented to the community in November of 2001. Concerns were expressed when the group discovered that about 20 feet of Kilbourn Park, which holds the baseball field, was to be cut away to reduce the grade of the incline. Other attendees were concerned about the houses to be built along the street on the bluff. In response to concerns, Peter Park and other City Development staff clearly stated that the roofline of these houses would not project above the grade of Killbourn Park. Neighbors also expressed some concern about the reduced functionality of the soccer field at the south end of the park. With the removal of shrubbery above the bluff, soccer balls kicked to the south could travel all the way to Commerce Street and perhaps into the Milwaukee River. Some shrubbery is planned for this area, however, it will not be in place for at least a few years. Also, it will not be as extensive as the early shrubbery and therefore not stop all of the errant soccer balls. One person expressed concern about soccer balls flying down into the houses that are planned for that area. Riverwest Currents – Volume 1 – Issue 4 – May 2002