County Executive
Chris Abele
Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele, Milwaukee County Parks Director John Dargle, Tom Schneider, Executive Director, COA Youth and Family Services, Pepper Ray, Building Neighborhood Capacity Program Coordinator for Amani United, and neighbors in the Amani community joined together today at Moody Park to highlight the strong partnership that led to the redevelopment of the park.
Such a strong and successful partnership, in fact, that Milwaukee County has been named a finalist for the Milwaukee Awards for Neighborhood Development Innovation’s “Brewers Community Foundation Public Space Award.”
The award recognizes public space that helps build the community.
Moody Park has also been nominated in the MANDI People’s Choice category.
In 2013, the County Executive proposed the Urban Parks Initiative to invest in and revitalize parks that in many cases had been forgotten for years.
One of the hallmark projects of this Initiative was completed in August 2015 – the revitalization of Moody Park, a park that is of great significance to the surrounding neighborhood.
The Moody Park $2 million investment replaced the former Moody Pool, a long-shuttered facility that was a drain on resources and an eyesore along Burleigh Street.
Many more residents now use and enjoy the revitalized Moody Park, which includes amenities like a new community building, a colorful splashpad with spray elements and shaded nearby seating, three basketball courts, a Helios multi-gym exercise structure, open space for field-sport practice, walking paths, and a multi-use open-air shelter.
An additional portion of the park’s green space is being set aside for a community garden, which will allow neighbors to grow healthy food.
This would not have been possible without the support of community partners like Amani United, COA Youth and Family Centers, and the Dominican Center. The public can also vote for the Moody Park project in the MANDI People’s Choice Award category.
The County, Amani neighborhood and all their partners urge the public to vote for this incredible project at: http://milwaukeenns.org/mandivote2016