History of Green Bay's Parks

Bentwood Place

Bentwood Place is a 1.33 acre triangle of land 1 left by road improvements where West Mason Street curves toward Oneida. Burns Avenue (which continues the straight alignment to the west) was dead-ended at Mason Street and a new, more orthogonal connection to Mason was created by extending Bentwood Drive. 2 A plan to landscape the now vacant land was drawn up in 1990, including new grading, trees and shrubs, and a flower bed. 3 The plans were implemented over the summer of 1991 4 at a total cost of $9486. 5

The roadway changes left a single triplex isolated on the block with Bentwood Place. The possibility of expanding the park area by purchasing this property was raised in 1999 and again in 2005, but the park department provided the city council a recommendation not to purchase, which was their action, so no such expansion occurred. 6

Notes

1 The land area is hand-written on the inside of the file folder. PRF file, Bentwood Place.
2 Copies of undated construction drawings. PRF file, Bentwood Place.
3 Plan, Proposed Landscaping for West Mason Right of Way, originally dated May, 1990; multiple copies of that plan with annotations; hand-written cost estimate, West Mason Right-of-Way Proposed Landscaping 26 June 1990; undated photos of the vacant plot before work. PRF file, Bentwood Place.
4 Memo from Joe Webb to Dick Hall, dated June 26, 1991, communicating the landscape plan and requesting approx. 400 cu yd. fill to use in the project. PRF file, Bentwood Place.
5 Hand-written spreadsheet, Fireman's Place Expenditure Summary, dated 8/6/91. PRF file, Bentwood Place.
6 Undated, typed memo from Jean [Seehafer to Bill Landvatter] noting that the building's owner had been referred to the park department by Don Vandersteen in Inspection and Tom Schuurmans in DPW; copy of email from Bill Landvatter to Don Van Der Steen and the owner, dated October 31, 2005, summarizing and reaffirming the 1999 action. PRF file, Bentwood Place.
Only annotated statements have been verified. Any other historical statements are unverified and based on personal knowledge or informal notes kept by the Green Bay Parks, Recreation & Forestry Department.
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