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):

• the Morrow property, now known as Edward J. Perkins Park, was bought by the City of Green Bay as recommended by the Board of Park Commissioners, for park purposes.
• there is an increasing demand for more baseball diamonds which can only be accomodated by using the Morrow area, since the Detry area is heavily wooded, there being no other large park on the northwest side of the city.
• the park board was therefore committed to save the said property for the future enjoyment of the public and not to dispose of it as recommended by the Finance Committe.

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