Milwaukee's Rotary Centennial Arboretum, half park, half arboretum, opened Sept. 28. The arboretum, bounded on the west by the Milwaukee River and the Oak Leaf Trail to the east, combines old industrial land between E. North Ave. and E. Locust St., and stretches through wooded areas of Riverside Park. The park is also the southern gateway to the Milwaukee River Greenway, 800 acres of green space that includes Gordon, Kern, Lincoln and Estabrook parks.
Photo: Milwaukee Rotary Centennial Arboretum

Rotary Centennial Arboretum, Milwaukee's newest park, opened Sept. 28, 2013. The $8.5 million, 40-acre park is a significant and biologically diverse native ecosystem for Southeastern Wisconsin, but also an important recreational, teaching and research center.

The arboretum was developed under the leadership of the Urban Ecology Center, the Rotary Club of Milwaukee (RCM), whose $400,000 in donations was a catalyst, and its partners: River Revitalization Foundation; Milwaukee Urban Rivers Foundation; Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program ($1.3 million grant); and the city and county.

The arboretum's opening coincides with RCM's 100th anniversary. The Arboretum broke ground in June 2010.

Rotary Centennial Arboretum/Park highlights:
• 3.7 miles of trails, including a two-mile wheel chair accessible loop
• 2,500 new trees
• Three outdoor learning areas for school children
• A new pedestrian bridge, a fishing dock and a wheel chair accessible canoe launch

The oak savanna in Milwaukee's newest park required massive amounts of dirt trucked in and bulldozers to create grassy berms. The "savanna," once widespread in southern Wisconsin, just one of a dozen ecological communities in the park.

The Urban Ecology Center, which oversaw the project, will manage the park under an agreement with Milwaukee County.

Over the past three years, 70 southern Wisconsin native plant species have been planted, including 2,500 trees, 5,000 shrubs, 65,000 wildflowers and grasses and sedges. The park also has areas with rocks and downed trees meant for children to play upon.

Milwaukee, and Shorewood to the north, have passed ordinances that protect areas along the river, including limiting building heights and establishing setback requirements.

The focal point of the new park is a 25-ft., 3,600-pound stone arch that Milwaukee furniture designer Mario Costantini designed for a RCM-sponsored competition the Rotary.

The arch is an entryway to a rolling savanna"?ua landscape once common to the area. The idea for the hills came from Pieter Godfrey, an architect and historic preservationist. Agriculture and development have shrunken Midwest savannas to about 30,000 acres, according to the Madison-based Savanna Oak Foundation Inc.

Fill was brought in to cap contaminated soils, remnants of the National Brake & Electric Co., a manufacturer of air brakes for trains and trolleys that was housed at the water's edge.