A place to learn. A place to remember. A place to reflect. These contemplative experiences embody the character of Kenosha County Veterans Memorial Park in southeastern Wisconsin. Tucked between Chicago and Milwaukee, this former quarry and industrial yard is a model of landscape reclamation and restoration.

Thanks to the vision and efforts of the Kenosha County Division of Parks, a 335-acre park comprised of prairies, woodlands, and a network of hiking trails now occupies what had been degraded land dominated by quarry spoils piles and contractor storage and staging areas. This restoration effort also extended to the former quarry, which is now a 39-acre lake for fishing, scuba activities, and paddle craft. Standing out amid these natural areas is the recently completed Honor Plaza, a civic space that celebrates and memorializes Kenosha County veterans.

Originally named KD Park after an adjacent highway, Kenosha County Veterans Memorial Park was founded in 2001 when the County acquired a 234-acre gravel quarry with the intent of creating a recreational sports complex. But early budgets did not align with this vision, so in 2011 an updated master plan was created, followed by the acquisition of an adjacent 113-acre construction yard in 2013.

The new park master plan includes facilities for sustainable living education, passive recreation, and access to nature. The theme of sustainability extends beyond programming and guides the restoration process. Mountainous piles of asphalt and concrete have been crushed and reused as bedding and surface courses for the park's trail network, smaller quarry sites are reimagined and restored as ponds and habitat areas, and native plantings soften the scarred landscape.

In 2020, a master planning and design update created a thematic overlay for the park with the goal of realizing the promise of the park's name and honoring Kenosha County veterans. This plan proposes a series of interventions, including shelters, overlooks, and interpretive elements along the trail network, intended as both tributes and opportunities to educate visitors. The most ambitious of these interventions, the Honor Plaza, marks the first phase implementation of this planning overlay and was completed in 2021.

 

The Honor Plaza includes an arrival plaza, a central, circular community lawn, and a flag walk that leads to a reflection point. The lawn, designed for formal events but flexible for day-to-day use, is bounded by a circular walk and plantings and reinforced by a large semi-circular earthen berm. This earthwork, in turn, is bisected by the flag walk, the experience of which is amplified by the tall, angular stone walls that hold the landform at the walk's cut. At the outer end of the flag walk, a solitary reflection point looks out over a restored prairie to the larger park.

Kenosha County Veterans Memorial Park has become a therapeutic retreat to passive amenities and natural areas including more than seven miles of trails, water recreation features, and veteran memorials. And there's more to come as the county continues to implement additional components of the master plan, including park shelters and veteran-themed interpretive elements.

Team List:

SmithGroup:
???,??? Nate Novak, Project Manager
???,??? Nathan Hilmer, Project Designer
???,??? Jessie Fink, KD Park Master Plan & Ecological Implementation
???,??? J Blue, Honor Plaza Master Plan



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