Dog park completion in downtown Milwaukee pushed to 2025

Every dog has its day, and it looks like the opening day of the dog park in downtown Milwaukee will be in 2025.

That’s according to social media posts from the downtown Milwaukee Business Improvement District #21, one of two organizations leading a $2 million, 22,000-square-foot turf park project underneath the Interstate 794 highway. In September, Butler-based Berghammer Construction broke ground at the park located southeast of the intersection between Clybourn Street and Plankinton Avenue.

BID #21 and the Historic Third Ward Business Improvement District #2 are the organizations leading the project.

Officials hoped to complete the dog park before the end of the year, but opening plans are set for the first quarter of 2025 instead.

The park is about 75% complete and includes 30 trees installed on the site through a city of Milwaukee Urban Forestry Grant, officials said.

Crews with Brookfield-based Hunzinger Construction performed site work next door for the Foxtown Landing, a dog-friendly brewery, distillery and restaurant. The project calls for a three-story, 28,000-square-foot taproom on Plankinton Avenue with extensions to the Milwaukee Riverwalk.

Beth Weirick, who led BID #21 since 1998 as the executive director and chief executive officer, is set to step down as CEO on June 27. Matt Dorner, the BID’s economic development director who helped lead the dog park project, will succeed Weirick after being appointed by the group’s executive committee.

Milwaukee-based Stephen Perry Smith Architects performed design services for both the dog park and Foxtown Landing. GRAEF is a project partner for the dog park.