The much-anticipated and long in the works Downtown Milwaukee Dog Park, 103 W. Clybourn St., has announced its official grand opening ceremony and ribbon cutting.
The fenced dog run on the west bank of the Milwaukee River will celebrate its grand opening at 3 p.m. on Aug. 20, with a "Yappy Hour" – part of the annual Downtown Employee Appreciation Week – to follow from 4 to 7 p,m, with Foxtown Brewing samples, food trucks, live music, giveaways and more.
The 23,000-square-foot dog park has been a collaborative effort between BID #21 and BID #2 with support from numerous entities, including Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Milwaukee County, the City of Milwaukee, Fromm Family Foods, the Milwaukee Admirals, Berghammer Construction, WE Energies, BMO, Veolia, Off Leash K9 Training, LLC, and other businesses, as well as thousands of individuals who contributed.
In addition to being located on a new section of River Walk, the dog park includes fenced-in exercise areas for small and large dogs and water stations.
The Downtown Milwaukee Dog Park will be open seven days a week from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. and requires a County dog park pass that can be purchased online.
The dog park is not expected to be accessible to the public before the grand opening.
“The Downtown Milwaukee Dog Park is the realization of years of collective effort, dedication, and generosity from individuals and organizations across Milwaukee,” said Paul Schwartz,
executive director of the BID #2 and the Milwaukee Public Market.
“By transforming an underutilized stretch of riverfront into a welcoming space, we are investing in an amenity that improves quality of life and strengthens connections across the Historic Third Ward and Downtown Community.”
The park sits alongside the site of the future Foxtown Landing brewery taproom, distillery and restaurant – currently under construction – a project of dog park title sponsor Fromm Family Foods, which owns Mequon-based Foxtown Brewing.
“We are incredibly proud to help bring this much-needed resource to Milwaukee’s pet lovers and community,” said Tom Nieman, owner of Fromm Family Foods.
“It is our hope that the dog park, together with the future Foxtown Landing, will be a vital part of expansion and enhancement of the downtown area and a place of connection and enjoyment for years to come.”
The public is welcome to attend the opening celebration and Yappy Hour with their dogs and are asked to RSVP online.
“Milwaukee Downtown and our partners are thrilled to open this catalytic project,” said Matt Dorner, CEO of Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21. “Not only will our growing residential base enjoy the dog park and expanded Riverwalk access, but so will our Downtown workforce – many of which live Downtown.
More Downtown offices have also become dog-friendly, which is why this aligns perfectly with our Downtown Employee Appreciation Week celebration. It's another win for Downtown and all of our stakeholders.”
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press. A fifth collects Urban Spelunking articles about breweries and maltsters.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has been heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
