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Love Our Courts!
Fundraising Campaign to help rebuild Lake Park Tennis Courts.
Lake Park Friends announces the kickoff of a community-wide fundraising campaign to rebuild the beloved Lake Park Tennis Courts.
Our goal is to honor Olmsted’s vision by preserving a space that unites people through play and nature. Every donation, large or small, helps us serve our community and preserve this historic park.
The LOVE OUR COURTS! campaign will include a tennis tournament for all ages, community events, sponsorship opportunities, and volunteer initiatives throughout the coming year.
Donations can be made online through this link, Love Our Courts Campaign Lake Park Friends or via check to: Lake Park Friends, Love Our Courts!, P.O. Box 71197, Milwaukee, WI53211.
Join us in restoring these cherished gems of Lake Park’s history– because after nearly 115 continuous years of playing tennis we most certainly LOVE OUR COURTS!
Updates
Welcoming Lake Park Friends’ New Executive Director
Lake Park Friends is excited to announce the hiring of its first-ever Executive Director, Meagan Holman O’Reilly, as the organization enters its 30th year of preserving and enhancing Lake Park in the spirit of Frederick Law Olmsted.
A longtime Milwaukee County resident and nonprofit leader, O’Reilly brings more than 20 years of experience in public policy, community engagement, and nonprofit consulting.
“I’m honored and truly excited to join Lake Park Friends at this moment and to step into a role that helps shape the park’s future,” said O’Reilly. “Growing up in Boston, I developed an early appreciation for Olmsted parks and the way they intentionally connect people to nature in urban environments. That belief has stayed with me, and it feels especially meaningful to help carry that vision forward in a place as special as Lake Park.”
Updates
Ravine Road and Footbridge
12/7/19 – With an eye on both historic preservation and modern day concerns, and after thoughtful debate and research, the Lake Park Friends Board of Directors unanimously adopted a resolution on Ravine Road. Read the full post here.
1/6/20 – Keep Ravine Road Open to All: In support of this resolution, LPF started an ONLINE PETITION to save the road. Please sign and share the petition: Go to change.org to add your voice by clicking here.
6/30/20 – Milwaukee County Parks held a virtual information session on June 17 regarding progress on the bridge’s design. To watch a video of the meeting, click here.
3/11/21 – The long awaited construction on the bridge will begin in August 2021 and will last until fall 2022.
10/1/21 – Construction has begun.
10/29/2022 – After years of closure and construction, Lake Park Friends, along with County Supervisor Sheldon Wasserman, and Milwaukee County Parks staff, is excited to announce that the historic Ravine Footbridge in Lake Park has reopened to the public. While the road running underneath remains off limits for now, everyone who visits Lake Park will once again be able to cross the bridge, a connector to two important areas of the park.
3/2023 – The bridge project still has an open and active punch list of items and work will continue in spring 2023.
8/2023 – LPF calls on Milwaukee County to reopen Ravine Road to cars immediately. For all related documents, click here.
Our Lake Park Projects
Planting Trees
We have the good fortune of having a fabulous Frederick Law Olmsted historic landmark park in our back yard. Preserving it and enhancing its beauty and usefulness for all our enjoyment requires the work of many people, but most importantly it requires financial support from our community members.
The Park’s Full of Rich History
What do Lake Park and New York’s Central Park have in common?
Frederick Law Olmsted was the leading landscape architect of the second half of the 19th century, and the architect of Lake Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Olmsted is perhaps best known for the design and creation of Central Park in New York and the U.S. Capitol grounds in Washington, D.C.