Historic Third Ward Riverwalk

Walking on Water

Riverwalk introduces a city to nature

By Jennifer Pfaff

Businesses in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward turned to the river when they wanted to make a big splash in the city.

It wasn’t until then that those businesses realized the key to increasing foot traffic was running right through their back yards. The Milwaukee River wound through the area since it was first developed, but, for the most part, it escaped attention.

That wasn’t the case anymore as the Historic Third Ward Business Improvement District No. 2, with the help of Engberg Anderson Design Partnership Inc. of Milwaukee, decided to turn those back yards into opportunities. And with that decision, the Historic Third Ward Riverwalk was born.

The three-quarter of a mile wooden walkway connects with the Downtown Riverwalk and follows the east and north shores — actually jutting out over the river in places — to the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, said Mark Ernst, a partner at Engberg Anderson. Eventually, it can extend all the way to Lake Michigan and the Henry Maier Festival Park.

Work on the project began in 2001 and wrapped up in 2005. The goal was to bring into harmony and make public the space where the river and city meet.

“It is the urban and nature coming together and the history of that,” Ernst said. “A lot of the vocabulary was borrowed — if you walk along some of the bridges, there is a lot of wood and steel. It’s a dialogue of materiality.”

Choosing the right materials was essential to tying the two environments together. Much of the Riverwalk borrows materials from the area’s industrial heritage, yet the more natural side of Milwaukee is invoked as well.

“Walking on wood is really different than walking on concrete, in terms of walking along the water’s edge,” Ernst said. “It’s fundamental and primal.”

Native plantings, those similar to what would have grown along the river before development started, were used throughout the project. Chunky wooden benches designate resting spots along the way.


	Project Name: Historic Third Ward Riverwalk Location: Milwaukee Submitting Company: Engberg Anderson Design Partnership Inc., Milwaukee General Contractor: Beyer Construction, New Berlin Architect: Engberg Anderson Design Partnership Inc. Engineers: Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer & Associates Inc., Milwaukee, structural engineer; IBC Engineering Services Inc., Waukesha, electrical engineer Owner: Historic Third Ward Association, Milwaukee Project Cost: $8.37 million Project Size: Three-quarters of a mile Start Date: March 2001 Completion Date: August 2005

Other features are accented with metal and create alternative experiences of the river.

“We have this kind of serpentine lookout that creates a different vantage point, which is higher than street level, for the pure whimsy of having a different view of the river,” Ernst said.

The Fifield Riverhouse will store kayaks and provide an outlet for the Schlitz Audubon Society to create a display on the area’s natural history, creating another interface with the river.

A little pocket park near the Milwaukee Public Market offers a venue to sit and relax or hold outdoor concerts. It too uses a borrowed vocabulary, with concrete retaining walls reminiscent of old dock walls.

But Riverwalk designers wanted to go even further to connect the bicyclists and pedestrians using the walk with their environment.

“One of the things we really wanted to do is push it down to the water as much as possible so you can really experience the water,” Ernst said.

It was a difficult maneuver. The water level in nearby Lake Michigan can fluctuate as much as 11 feet, so the path had to be high enough to stay above water but low enough to allow interaction between river and viewer.

Perhaps most difficult was getting all the building owners to agree on the concept of the public walkway and bringing strangers in close proximity to businesses and homes.

And those visitors come day and night. The Riverwalk is specially lighted to make the river sparkle under dark skies.

Using moonlight as inspiration, the project team mounted lights on nearby buildings, yielding a far dreamier effect than pole-mounted lights, Ernst said. Some lights were put up just for the way they glimmered on the water’s surface.

“The real experience is that kind of lighting and reflection allows you to see the lighting of the city,” he said.