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Ideas for revitalized Park Street to be unveiled tonight  

By Judith Davidoff 
June 22, 2004

Although planning efforts to revitalize south Madison have been going on for several years, the first real outlay of public resources for specific projects is just now within reach.Two city committees have been meeting since April to determine how to divvy up $2.5 million earmarked in Mayor . .. . 

http://www.madison.com/captimes/news/stories/76865.php 

Two city committees have been meeting since April to determine how to divvy up $2.5 million earmarked in Mayor Dave Cieslewicz's 2004 budget for projects and activities aimed at redeveloping parts of South Park Street and Todd Drive. 

Tonight the Badger-Ann-Park Redevelopment Committee and the Todd-Beltline Redevelopment Committee will present their recommendations to the public at an open house at the South Madison Health and Family Center-Harambee. 

The panels are calling for funding for affordable condominiums in the Badger Road area, traffic improvements on Park Street and Todd Drive, money for the eventual redevelopment of the Villager Mall, and the acquisition of land for a water spray park. 

Cieslewicz calls the initiatives - which are intended to spur redevelopment, leverage private investment and improve the quality of life for residents and businesses - "creative and innovative projects that begin to implement the community's vision for the south side. 

"When I committed the $2.5 million in this year's budget, my intent was for the community to work out the details based on years of planning," he said.  

The initiatives include: 

$225,000 to purchase a portion of a lot currently used for parking for the Villager Mall as a first step toward the eventual acquisition of the mall by the city. The city plans to redevelop the mall into a retail, office and research complex. 

$200,000 to help acquire apartments in the Badger-Magnolia area and turn them into condominiums to create new affordable ownership opportunities in the neighborhood. 

$200,000 to improve Park Street intersections at Beld Street and Hughes Place by making it easier and safer to cross Park Street. Some of the money would be used to develop public art that would emphasize the neighborhood's diverse population and its location as a gateway to the city and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

$450,000 to help acquire an eight-unit building next to Lincoln Elementary School and prepare the site for a spray park. The city Parks Department is seeking private funding for the spray park itself. 

$1.2 million to improve intersections at Todd Drive and the West Beltline and the local access road. Wisconsin Department of Transportation officials had slated these improvements for 2009, but the city's local match enabled the state to make $4 million in highway funds available in 2005, said Mark Olinger, city planning director. 

In making their recommendations, the two committees reviewed the "wealth of planning" already done on the future of Park Street, including comments from residents, said Hickory Hurie, Community Development Block Grants supervisor. And he said the proposals have already had a ripple effect in the private sector. 

"These recommendations have also attracted the attention of several private developers, and the public initiatives will help generate interest and support for private redevelopment in these two areas," Hurie said. 

The panels will meet one more time after the public meeting, review feedback on their recommendations and prepare a final report for the City Council, he added. 

Peter Munoz, a member of the Badger-Ann-Park Redevelopment Committee, called the projects extremely exciting. 

"The city is making a strong statement that it does care about what happens on the south side," said Munoz, a former aide to Mayor Sue Bauman. "It holds out the promise that the south side will be a very desirable place to be and to visit." 

LaMarr Billups, another member of the committee, was also enthusiastic about the proposals. 

"These ideas will really lay the groundwork for what we've been shooting for the last three years - the revitalization of Park Street and thereby the neighborhoods all attached to Park Street," he said. 

Billups, director of community relations for UW-Madison, has been active in developing university outreach efforts at the Villager Mall. MATC and Edgewood College are also involved in these efforts. 

Giving the mall a better feel and being able to locate more community organizations and businesses there should be a boon to the neighborhood, Billups said. 

All of the recommendations, he added, should go a long way toward "making that part of Park Street the gateway to the city." 


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Published: 9:02 AM 6/22/04

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