EDITORIAL: Improve Lake Park but do no harm

“We had to destroy the village in order to save it.”

Allegedly spoken by an American Army officer, it is perhaps the most famous quote to come out of the Vietnam War.

Let’s hope that no one will ever have to say, “We had to ruin Upper Lake Park to save it.”

Port Washington’s signature park needs saving. Erosion of the lake bluff has claimed a significant amount of its most precious land at the park’s east edge, has forced the moving of the park road, is threatening to undermine it further and shows no signs of stopping.

The city is poised to undertake a complex and expensive bluff stabilization operation when it has the means to pay for it. In planning the project, officials are floating ideas for adding recreational amenities in the park’s open green spaces.

A sports court and a multi-season pavilion were mentioned at an informational meeting Nov. 2.

What is it about open land that compels people, especially municipal officials, to want to fill it with something? The green acres of the park’s north half are tempting some in the Port city government.

Recreation Director Tyler Mentzel spoke at the meeting of the importance of bringing  more activity to the north side of the park. “I know when I’m at the park,” he said, “everybody is on the south end.”

In discussing possible recreational additions, Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven said, “There’s a lot of potential in the park.”

Users of the park might say that most of its potential has already been reached. The south end is, as the rec director said, a busy place, what with its pavilion, beer garden facility and the popular Possibility Playground.

The north side offers what many park visitors want—space and quiet for walking and enjoying the outdoors—and that suggests a way Upper Lake Park could truly reach its potential. It needs improvements for walkers.

It is a long-standing failing of the park that its road has no separate walkway. Walkers share the road with vehicles, protected only by a white line on the narrow pavement. That pavement carries a substantial volume of traffic—800 vehicles a day, according to Vanden Noven—some of it traveling at surprisingly high speeds.

This needs to be corrected by installing a proper walkway around the park loop. At the same time, unpaved trails along the bluff and through other areas of the park could be added to take full advantage of the park’s natural assets.

One of the truly bad ideas mentioned at the park meeting was to replace the one-way loop road with a two-way street. The current park road is already used as a shortcut by drivers traveling to and from the downtown, hence the 800-vehicle daily traffic number. A two-way street would invite more and faster traffic, exacerbating what is already a problem. A new loop road should be designed in a way that discourages through traffic.

Whatever changes are in store for the park, they should respect the character of this remarkable 20-acre tract of public land that overlooks Lake Michigan. Here’s a change that should pass that test: Change the park’s name. Since there is no longer a Lower Lake Park—it was renamed Veterans Park—there can’t really be an Upper Lake Park.

Call it Lake Park.