New plaza at Zocalo Food Truck Park, skate park among projects to get funds under $8 million plan
A public plaza at Zocalo Food Truck Park, and improvements to a skate park beneath Interstate 94, are among several Walker's Point neighborhood projects to be funded with nearly $8 million under a new city plan.
The money would come through a tax incremental financing district that uses property tax revenue generated by Mercantile Loft Apartments, which opened in 2016 at 611 W. National Ave., and other nearby newer apartment developments.
Other projects to be funded include improvements at two additional public plazas, public art, a road reconstruction, and street, bike, and pedestrian improvements throughout Walker’s Point.
The proposal is to be reviewed by the city Redevelopment Authority at its May 16 board meeting. It also will need Common Council approval.
Most of the $7.95 million would pay for more than a dozen public infrastructure projects.
The Zocalo plaza would be built on West Pierce Street, between South Fifth and South 6th streets. It would cost around $700,000, according to the plan, and complement the food truck park which began operating in 2019 at 636 S. Sixth St.
That portion of Pierce Street has been closed with barricades to create space for Zocalo's dining area, said Madison Goldbeck, Department of City Development marketing and communications officer.
"This would be a more permanent situation with a reconstruction of that road, raising it up to sidewalk level for that half-block, to make it more accommodating for a plaza," Goldbeck told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The skate park at West National Avenue and South Eighth Street, which uses part of an underused parking lot beneath I-94, would get lighting, fencing and other improvements costing $100,000. National DIY Skatepark Inc., a nonprofit group, began operating it in 2020.
Walker Square, 1031 S. Ninth St., would get pedestrian path, lighting, building and landscape improvements totaling $750,000.
Also, public art would be added to West Washington Street, between South Fifth and South Sixth streets, along with improvements to Arts at Large Inc.'s Paliafito Eco-Arts Park, at West Walker and South Third streets. That would total $100,000.
The costliest public improvement is a $2.4 million reconstruction of West Mineral and West Walker streets between South Ninth and South 11th streets. It will include traffic calming and bike/pedestrian improvements.
Most of the remaining funds would pay for traffic calming measures and protected bike lanes at several sites throughout Walker's Point. That includes $1 million for a protected bike lane on South Second Street between West Washington and West Mitchell streets.
The plan also would provide $500,000 to fund loans and grants to attract or retain office and retail tenants to the neighborhood. That money would be used for tenant improvements, façade improvements, new signs or other expenses.
Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, X and Facebook.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Plan to fund Zocalo plaza, skate park, other Walker's Point projects
