Urban Ecology Center

On our recent visit to Milwaukee for two Magic Mama performances, we added an extra day to the journey to check out the Urban Ecology Center.

The Urban Ecology Center is a neighborhood-based, environmental education, nonprofit community center. The “outdoor laboratories,” located in two urban parks, include 15 acres of wooded land and riparian habitat on the east bank of the Milwaukee River, an imaginative, habitat-themed playground, and a lagoon. The “green” building in Riverside Park that houses the main offices, resource areas and classrooms is home to live animals, informational exhibits and user-friendly resource materials about the environment.

In the early 1900's Riverside Park was a well groomed, popular park for seasonal swimming, boating, skating and curling. Over decades of industrial use, the Milwaukee River reached a level of pollution that no longer attracted visitors and the park was essentially abandoned. In 1991, after much discussion regarding the best way to revitalize the area, the Urban Ecology Center was born. Dr. Else Ankel, Environmental Scientist in Residence at Riverside High School, was the driving force behind this grass roots effort. The organization grew from a few volunteer teachers taking children into the park into what it is today.

We didn't get to climb this wall, but we did find the secret entrance around the back of the building....

Enter the hobbit-size hole...

And slide on in!

Scooby-style hidden classroom!

The Urban Ecology Center inspires people to tread lightly on the earth while being mindful of their impact on the water, climate, energy, land use, biodiversity and community. Making intentional, mindful food choices is one way to have a huge impact on each of these things.

Rainwater flush toilets - choose between a half tank or full tank flush.

Pumping water from the pond

Wrap around porch made of wood scraps from the construction of the Atlantic City Boardwalk.

At a huge 44.4 kilowatts, the solar electric panels now covering the roof at the UEC are the largest such solar installation in the state of Wisconsin. The system, originally installed in 2003 by H&H Solar Energy Services of Madison, started out as a 48 module array. With the addition of 208 solar panels, the completed system now consists of 256 Kyocera solar panels mounted directly to the Center’s metal standing-seam roof. The Kyocera panels are expected to produce over 55,000 kilowatt-hours each year.

We brake for funky structures!

And always make room for art.... We found this Chagall Tapestry at the Jewish Museum

Milwaukee has acquired the nickname "The Cream City" which has nothing to do with Wisconsin's dairy industry. Rather, it is reference to the cream colored stone used in much of the older architecture found throughout the area, like this house in the picture above.

Our trip would not have been complete without a visit to Lake Michigan, one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. The word "Michigan" originally referred to the lake itself, and is believed to come from the Ojibwa word mishigamimeaning "great water."

Lake Michigan used to be home to lake trout, yellow perch, panfish, large and smallmouth bass, bowfin and catfish. The Great Lakes are on the verge of ecological disaster. Lake Michigan's water quality is endangered by shoreline development, toxic pollution, invasive species, sewage overflows and unrestricted water withdrawals.

Research shows that children who explore natural areas throughout their childhood, guided by environmentally literate mentors, are likely to become ecologically responsible adults.