History of Green Bay's Parks

Edward J. Perkins Park

Purchase and Naming

On June 15, 1954, the Green Bay city council voted that the Park Board be authorized to obtain an eight month option for the sum of $500.00 to purchase thirty-eight acres of land and six lots, which includes two homes and one barn and a two-stall garage for the total purchase price of $58,000. 1 The option was taken the following day 2 and in February, 1955, an agreement was reached with the former owners George and Mary Morrow to buy the land for $30,400 down and $27,500 in 5 annual installments at 4.5% interest. 3 The Morrows agreed to remove the garage and other personal property to give complete possession of the property to the City of Green Bay on or before six months from date. 4 This square parcel at the corner of Bond Street and Military Avenue, a quarter mile on each side, 5 was the beginning of Perkins Park.

Almost immediately, in September of 1955, the park board moved to expand the park area by taking an option with George A. Detry and Joseph P. Detry for another 37 acres more or less which is located east and north from the original Morrow property. 6 7 On April 17, 1956, the city council approved purchase of the Detry property for $34,083: $3,300 down and 10 annual payments of $3,078.30 at 4.5% interest. 8

The park was named for Edward J. Perkins, the president of the Board of Park Commissioners, in April of 1955. 9 However, its status as a city park was left in limbo while the city pursued various possibilities for building a new city stadium. At the same time that the council approved expanding the park, it also decided That the request of the Board of Park Commissioners for full jurisdiction of Perkins Park be deferred until the Stadium question has been decided. 10

Disputes about best use

As early as January, 1955, the council requested that the Packer Corporation, Park Board, Board of Education, and Mr. Manders, Bldg. Inspector, meet with the Finance Committee at its next meeting on January 17th for additional information on Municipal Stadium and the possibility of engaging an architect. 11 Later, after the city decided to build the stadium on land annexed from the Town of Ashwaubenon, some felt the large field at Military and Bond had become superfluous and could be sold off. The park board vociferously disagreed, adopting at the end of 1956 a strong statement 12 declaring (in part):

Mayor Otto Rachals wasn't convinced that the park board had the authority to put this policy into practice. When spring came, there was another skirmish as the mayor forbade any park development activity. He summarized his position in a letter to the council: 13

On June 18, 1955 the City purchased certain acreage from the Morrows to be used for such purposes as the City saw fit, including the possibility of a stadium site. On January 15, 1957 the Council adopted a report of the Finance Committee recommending that, in regard to disposition of the Morrow property, the matter be referred to both the City Planner and the Park Superintendent. …

In the meantime, the Park Board saw fit to start developing the land. I ordered the operations to cease pending the Council meeting this evening.

The dispute continued to boil. In the fall of 1957, the park board proposed a resolution to the city council which would authorize and direct the park Board to proceed with the development of the entire Perkins Park area for park and recreation purposes. 14 In the fall of 1958, a residential development was proposed for the western half of the original property (envisioning that the east half would also be developed for residences). 15 At the end of 1958 the park board approved a request to build a National Guard Armory at the northwest corner of the park along Military Avenue … not to exceed ten acres. 16 In 1959, as the debate over the Perkins Park properties was still swirling, 59 residents to the east of the park petitioned that the Perkins Park area be developed. 17

None of this resolved the matter. The question of the armory was still being studied in the summer of 1961. The park board went on record in June of that year as being opposed to the disposal of any part of the Perkins Park property. 18 The city planner reported a study on Perkins Park: 19

Since the purchase of the Morrow property by the City in 1955, the ultimate use of this property has been in question. …

[A]lthough the total 74 acres of City-owned property in this area are not totally necessary for park purposes in this specific location, the overall total of park lands within the City are definitely inadequate in size. As a consequence, it would be better to retain all 74 acres for park purposes in its present location, unless duplicate or better replacement facilities can be obtained elsewhere. …

Approval of the allocation of the 10 acres for armory use can be recommended contingent upon the replacement of the acreage by similar or more appropriate facilities.

Shortly after the planner's report was released, the park board issued a publicity release detailing the need for park development, noting, The fast-growing west side [of the city] with a population of 38,469 has a park acreage of only 202.37 acres. This is approximately 183 acres below the minimum. The release went on to list activities the board hoped to include in the city parks, including golfing, archery, a swimming pool, skating rink, hockey rinks, dong training area, rifle instruction area, and model plane area, some of which could be located at Perkins Park. In this publicity release, the park board took a stand against constructionn of an armory adjacent to any park because it is an attractive nuisance. 20

Six months later, at the beginning of 1962, the park board once again decided to request that the jurisdiction of Perkins Park be officially delegated to the Board of Park Commissioners. 21 This time, however, the Finance Committee agreed, recommending approval to the council. 22 Thus the fate of Perkins Park was finally settled.

Development

Some work was done before 1962; for example, it seems likely that the baseball diamond was laid out in 1961 since contractors were bidding to light it. 23 The dedication for the lighted softball diamond followed a little more than a year later, May 8, 1963. 24 A contract for building the shelter house was awarded in the fall of 1962. 25 Early in 1963, the park board requested bids for the sale and removal of the house in Perkins Park. The alternate bid should be for razing of the building. … The house at 1476 Bond Street will be vacated May 1, 1963. This building should be removed on or before June 1, 1963. 26 The house was in fact razed during the summer of 1963. 27

In July of 1963, petitions were received from about 50 neighbors for a supervised playground. 28 The park board first approved the idea, but a debate ensued because it was already mid-season and no funds were in the 1963 budget for parkies at Perkins. 29 Playground supervision was dropped for 1963, but included in the plans for 1964. 30 In 1965, new tennis courts were installed. 31 (An archery program may also have started that summer.) The Lions Club, as sponsors of Little League baseball, provided material for safety fences (wings) for diamonds four and five at Perkins Park and the diamond at Chappell School in 1973. 32 Then, in 1981, the Lions were granted permission to build a storage building in the park. 33

Meanwhile, the city built an open shelter in the heavily wooded area (the Detry property). 34

In September of 1968, the park board heard a request of Alderman Don Engebos to install a crosswalk from Locust Street to Perkins Park at the west end of Minahan Street. They decided to take no action, however, when they learned that the park department already have plans to fill and blacktop the area and expected to be completing this work in the next few weeks. 35 At the time, this walk only provided access into the park. A suggestion for continuing the sidewalk from the foot of Minahan Street through the park on to Saratoga Way (as it now does) was turned down by the council's Park Areas committee in 1970. 36 This was revisited the next year, and in August of 1971 the continuation of the sidewalk through Perkins Park from the foot of Minahan Street to Saratoga Way was approved. 37

Ideas never adopted

In addition to the development which actually took place at Perkins Park, there have been a number of suggestions which were not adopted. Three which are evidenced by park department records each have a tie to people walking through the park.

In 1973, a citizen who used the park as his route to the office suggested that the city might set aside about two acres as a wild area. Such an area could host a wide variety of wild flowers, grasses, ferns, fruits, trees, schrubs, bird, and small animals. It would be a good nature study area. 38 The park department worried about complaints received [from] people living adjacent to the area; however, we will investigate the matter thoroughly. 39

A walk and bicycle trail northerly through Perkins Park was suggested in 1980. The proposed trail would connect to Moraine Way which is presently undergoing the construction of condominiums, apartment, and a future low income project. 40 A route was suggested starting at the end of Fisk Street and continuing through the wooded area of Perkins Park to a point somewhere at the boundary of the Armory and Moraine Way. 41

A third suggestion also related to walking through the park. Lamenting Green Bay's lack of a year round walking and jogging track, an avid walker suggested Perkins Park could be used as a walking and jogging trail. 42 The park staff concluded, however, that Perkins Park would not be a good walking and jogging winter trail. If one were established, it would have be to hard surfaced (for which no funds were available) because Gravel or wood chips or any material that is not hard surfaced could not be properly cleared of snow and ice. 43


Notes

1 Letter from Clifford Centen, City Clerk, to Park Board, dated June 17, 1954. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962). Despite the title, this file folder includes material through 1970.
2 Signed copy of resolution by the Board of Park Commissioners, dated June 16, 1954, authorizing a check for the option on the Morrow property. The copy is signed by E.J. Perkins, who was president of the park borad at that time. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
3 Original, signed Resolution Authorizing Purchase of Certain Property in Vicinity of Military Avenue and Boland Road, dated January 18, 1955. Copy land contract by City of Green Bay with landowners George Morrow and Mary L. Morrow, also Laverne Mary Deneys, Raymond J. Stencil and Marie Stencil, Lawrence Williquette and Irene Williquette, dated February 14, 1955, and recorded in Volume 20, pages 189 and 190. Copy of Quit Claim Deed between the same parties dated December 29, 1961, and recorded on January 26, 1962, in Volume 374, page 144. A calculator tape attached to the resolution shows a total expenditure of $61,712.50 with the option and 4.5% interest included. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
4 Copy of agreement between George Morrow, Mary Morrow, and the City of Green Bay, dated February 14, 1955. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
5 The property was 40 acres less highway purposes. The boundaries for the full 40 A would be along the centers of Military Avenue, Bond Street, and the extension of Fisk Street; the northern line follows what is now the northern edge of Moraine Terrace. See Brown County Land Information System, http://maps.gis.co.brown.wi.us/geoprime/. This was not a normal quarter-quarter section as the area, originally part of the Fort Howard Military Reserve, was surveyed according to the French claims rather than following the rectilinear range and township grid otherwise mandated by the North West Ordinance of 1787.
6 Letter from Frank Cartier, realtor, to Mr. Edward Perkins, President, Green Bay Park Board, dated July 28, 1955, offering the property at $900 per acre. Copy of certified copy of Resolution of Park Board Authorizing Purchase of Addition to Perkins Park showing the phrase for park purposes only added to the original text of the resolution. Option agreement, George A. Detry and Joseph P. Detry, dated September 14, 1955, to purchase the property at $900 an acre. The property consists of all of Lots 74, 81 and 84, and parts of Lots 73, 82 and 83, Fort Howard Military Reserve. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
7 Option agreement, George A. Detry and Joseph P. Detry, dated June 30, 1956. This was apparently intended as an extension to the original option agreement, but the date is later than the actual purchase on June 4, so the purpose and effect of this option is unclear. This version includes restrictive language which seems to be in response to the disputes about the future of the Morrow section: 1. Property is to be used for park purposes only. 2. The heavily wooded section is not to be disturbed or the trees removed. 3. All necessary survey is to be done by the City of Green Bay at their own expense. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
8 Copy of resolution of Common Council, meeting of April 17, 1956, to purchase the Detry property by land contract. A calculator tape shows a total cost of $41,204.16. Copy Land Contract between George Detry and Joseph Detry and the City of Green Bay, dated June 4, 1956, and recorded June 7, 1956 in Volume 21, page 240. Also see copy of letter from Clifford Centen, City Clerk, to Park Board, dated April 19, 1956. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
9 Letter from Clifford Centen, City Clerk, to Park Board, dated April 8, 1955. The council action gave jurisdiction for the Morrow property under the name of Edward J. Perkins … with the reservation of future use for this property, an oblique reference to the stadium. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
10 Copy of letter from Clifford Centen, City Clerk, to Park Board, dated April 19, 1956.
11 Letter from Clifford Centen to Packer Corporation, Park Board, Board of Education, and Albert Manders, dated January 6, 1955, reporting action taken by the council on January 4, 1955. (The city school board was involved because the new stadium would serve West High School just as the old City Stadium served neighboring East High.) PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
12 Signed copy of resolution by the Board of Park Commissioners, hand dated December 12, 1956. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
13 Copy of letter from Otto Rachals, Mayor, to the Common Council, dated May 7, 1957. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
14 Copy of certified copy of resolution by Park Board to the Mayor and Common Council, dated October 16, 1957. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
15 Appraisal letter from Frank Cartier, appraiser, dated September 5, 1958. A copy of the proposed plat is included, showing development of the entire Morrow property from Military Avenue to Fisk Street. The half being appraised for housing, bounded by the centerline of Desnoyers Street, the east line of Military Avenuew, the North line of Bond Street and the centerline of the unnamed [proposed] street on the east, consists of 18.62 acres. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
16 Copy of memo from V.H. Krieser to Mayor Rachals, dated December 12, 1958, and reporting action at the meeting of December 10, 1958. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
17 Handwritten note from Thomas G. Atkinson [alderman] to Mayor Rachals dated May 19, 1959, and accompanied by a handwritten petition signed by 59 residents (mostly from the area of Thrush, Lark, and Park Streets). PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
18 Copy of letter from Vernon H. Krieser to the Mayor and Common Council, dated June 20, 1961, and reporting action at the meeting of Jun 14, 1961. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
19 Copy of report by R.M. Bergman, Director of Planning, entitled Study of Armory Location at Perkins Park and dated July 11, 1961. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
20 Copy of publicity release dated July 18, 1961, entitled Board of Park Commissioners Stand on Perkins Park. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
21 Copy of letter from Vernon H. Krieser, Director of Parks and Recreation, to the Mayor and Common Council, dated January 16, 1962, and reporting action at the meeting of January 10, 1962. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
22 Copy of report of the Finance Committee to the city council of meeting of January 23, 1962, dated February 6, 1962. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
23 Copy of memo from Clifford A. Centen, City Clerk, to Borad of Park Commissioners, dated October 2, 1961, reporting bids received for baseball diamond lighting. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
No baseball or softball fields are visible in the aerial photography from the summer of 1960. See Brown County Land Information System, http://maps.gis.co.brown.wi.us/geoprime/.
24 Program for Lighted Softball Diamond Dedication held on May 8, 1963, at 8:00 p.m. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
25 Copy of bid summary for Park Shelter Building and Lavatory, dated August 14, 1962. Copy of resolution to award contracts for the shelter, dated September 18, 1962. The total for the low bids in the summary was $25,795.00 while the amount in the resolution differs slightly. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
26 Copy of memo from Vernon H. Krieser, Director of Parks and Recreation, to Mr. Cliff Centen and Board of Public Works, dated February 2, 1963. Notice to Tenant to Quit, dated March 5, 1963 and with handwritten note served March 5 1963 10:10 AM. (In fact, the city negotiated with the tenant as to the date and additional rent payments. A handwritten note reads out 5/19/63.) PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
27 Copy of resolution of city council, dated August 6, 1963, to pay Pokel Wrecking Company, Inc., $545 for the demolition of the house at 1476 Bond Street. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
28 Copy of petition for playground supervision in Perkins park; signatures are dated between June 29 and July 1, 1963, and are mainly from residents on North Locust Street, North Platten Street, and the cross streets. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
29 Copy of minutes of Board of Park Commissioners, meeting of July 10, 1963. The board first voted to request $500 to cover the parkies, then voted to reconsider, and finally left the matter in the hands of the board's president and the mayor. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
30 Copy of memo from Veron H. Krieser, Director of Parks and Recreation, to the Mayor and Common Council, dated July 16, 1963. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
31 Summary of bids for tennis courts, dated June 14, 1965; copy of resolution by Common Council, dated August 17, 1965, approving payment to Chris Tilleman for tennis court construction. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
32 Letter from J.W. Ritchay, Secretary, Lions West Side Little League, Inc., to Park and Recreation Department, dated March 14, 1973; copy of letter from Chet Miller, Director, Park and Recreation Department, to J.W. Ritchay et al., dated April 6, 1973, reporting action of the park committee at their meeting of March 19. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins 1971-.
33 Letter from James Cherney, President, Downtown Lions Little League, to Chet Miller, Park and Recreation Department, dated March 16, 1981; copy of agreement, dated June 19, 1981. (Cherney's letter notes that the Lions' program had operated on the West Side for the past 28 years and had grown to 26 teams.) PRF file Park Areas: Perkins 1971-.
34 New building permit from City of Green Bay Building Inspection Department, dated July 23, 1980, for an Open shelter in Lot 84, 22 feet wide by 48 feet long. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins 1971-.
35 Extract from the minutes of the Board of Park Commissioners, meeting of September 4, 1968. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
36 Copy of letter from Chet Miller, Director, Park and Recreation Department, to Harold Boyce, 828 N. Locust Street, dated September 17, 1970. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins Park (thru 1962).
37 Copy of minutes of Park Areas Committee, meeting of August 16, 1971. Boyce was by this time the alderman from the area making the proposal to the committee which may explain the nearly identical wording. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins 1971-.
38 Letter from Alton L. Cardinal to Department of Parks, Recreation & Forestry, undated [August 23, 1973]. (The letter writer was the father of the present author.) PRF file Park Areas: Perkins 1971-.
39 Letter from Chet Miller, Director, Park and Recreation Department, dated August 31, 1973, replying to Cardinal. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins 1971-.
40 Memo, Gerald Last, Alderman, Ward 22, to Mayor and Common Council, dated April 15, 1980. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins 1971-.
41 Copy of minutes of Park Board, meeting of June 4, 1980. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins 1971-.
42 Letter from Isabella M. Denny to Green Bay Park & Recreation, dated February 29, 1988. PRF file Park Areas: Perkins 1971-.
43 PRF file Park Areas: Perkins 1971-.

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.
Last update: July, 2013
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