Bonus Entry #1: 88th Street School - A Walk Around Memory Lane

Address: 3575 S. 88th Street, Milwaukee WI
Steps Taken: 1,716
Miles Walked: .81 miles
End Time: 4:20pm
End Temp: 63 degrees
End Weather: Partially Sunny, Some Clouds

Since Alcott park was so close, I decided to see what has become of my former elementary school. From K-5 until 4th grade it was simply called 88th Street School. My final year, 5th grade, they finally renamed the school for the unique curriculum, Milwaukee French Immersion School. Several years ago however, the school needed more space, so they moved to 52nd and North Avenue. (Coincidentally the sight of my former Middle School Steuben, which was shut down.) Today I was curious as to what was there now, if another school had moved into the building or if it was being used for something new. What I found was a little sad. The building is abandoned. I can't be too upset about it though, I know the school still exists, just at a different location. Plus, thanks to the area being abandoned I wasn't questioned by anyone today, wandering the outside grounds, snapping pictures, and probably just looking generally weird.

I find it interesting that they never bothered changing the Milwaukee Public Schools recreation area sign when the name of the school changed. This is how I chose what to title this bonus entry going with the former title of the school instead of the latter.

This was the entrance I used in 5th and 4th Grade.

The part of the playground with slides, jungle gyms, etc., got turned into a toddler playground.

I miss the metal, insect themed playground equipment that used to be here.  There was a giant caterpillar and a snail, fun times.

There are no swings now. We had one of the most unique swing sets I've ever seen. Metal arches that formed a dome, I remember all of us trying to swing high enough to hit the center peak of the dome. This is where it used to be.

Painted small circle track for playing games.

The "top of the hill" kickball diamond. This was almost always the one we used for gym class.

The corner of the playground I spent most of my recesses in 4th & 5th grade, reading books and hanging out with the couple of close friends I had.

The only grassy area of the playground.

We really did have possibly the largest playground of any Milwaukee public elementary school.

The race track, bane of my entire elementary school experience.

All I could find of the playground world map, the Southern half of Africa.

And of the United States, Alaska.

A four-square, I remember playing some game one morning before the start of the day in 1st grade. Can't remember the game itself or how it was played but I do remember it was windy and for whatever reason, probably rain later in the day, I had an umbrella. I remember opening the umbrella and almost flying away, scraping my knees all to hell and the umbrella broke.

There used to be another fenced kickball diamond here.

The entrance I used in 2nd & 3rd grade.

The entrance I used for 1st grade.

Part of what used to be the fenced in kindergarten playground. As a little kid the doors for the restrooms weren't labeled because they couldn't be accessed from outside. At some point this must have changed.

At some point they took down half of the fence for the fenced in kindergarten area.

The entrance to the gym.

The entrance I used in kindergarten.
  

I remember sitting on these entrance steps the day our bus didn't show up to take us home. A friend mine's parents ended up taking us home.

The main entrance to the school. Can you tell it's been a long while since it was last used?

Old PTA stickers still on the windows next to the main entrance.

Where the school sign used to be, between the two poles of wood. I can't remember if we used to fly both the U.S. flag and the Wisconsin state flag, or just the former.

The only boarded up windows I remember seeing. Pretty sure on the other side would be my 2nd grade classroom.

I really hope they eventually reopen this building for something. It would be nice to take a nostalgic stroll through the halls again.

Alcott Park

Date: June 30th 2015
Global Location: Lat: 42.976872; Lon: -88.035247
Acres: 16.8 
Start Time: 3:15pm
Start Temp: 64 degrees
Weather: Partially Sunny, Breezy with some Clouds
Steps Taken: 2,255
Miles Walked: 1.06

Welcome to the beginning of my park adventure! Today's park and the very first one recorded for the purpose of sharing with all of you, is Alcott Park, located on 97th street in Milwaukee. This park and the elementary school next to it are named for Louisa May Alcott, author of the novel Little Women. Sadly, I could not find any online resources explaining why the city and county of Milwaukee has a school and park named for her. It's a fairly small park, and didn't take very long for me to walk through it.

Above is the map I followed for walking every step of the paved trails. Because I wanted to cover every trail as completely as possible I did have to backtrack and re-walk certain sections of the trail.

I parked near the only sign that bears the park's name, on 97th street. There is no parking lot for this park, and unlike many county parks I've visited in the past, this is the only sign that tells you where you are.

A view of 97th street through a grove of small trees I found pretty.

There's a splash area for adults and children to cool off during the summer. Not very deep at all, so it doesn't qualify as an actual park pool which is nice seeing as there is no charge to use it. Right nearby is the playground. Since it came up at the start of my walk, I didn't spend any time on the swings today.

This is the path that on the map, you can see it ends leading into a residential neighborhood on Tripoli Ave. I would love to live next door to a park path like this. I hope the people that live there enjoy it as much as I would.

In the distance to the West of the park, there's a smattering of trees and a field as far as I could see.

Pictured above is some kind of open park building. All I found inside was the wide open area with a few benches lining the walls, an office for the parks official who was working and the public restrooms. Just now realizing that I should have seen if it was cool to snap a pic of the guy working at the park and talk to him about it. Maybe he would have known interesting facts about the park. Oh well, note for next time.

ONE BUBBLER! This park only had one bubbler. (Or for anyone reading this who is not a Wisconsin native, a drinking/water fountain.) In the future, if there's more than one, I'll include a bubbler count at the top with my intro stats.

I really liked this bent tree. I could see myself as a kid hanging out and sitting on it with a book and a snack. I love it when nature makes the perfect furniture.

Another view of the Western field.

A baseball diamond and soccer field in the center of the big ring path around the park.

A thicket I found pretty.

Where the park path technically ends facing North. After this point you're heading into paths that connect the park to the elementary school.

Alcott Elementary

The tennis and basketball courts connected to the school.

A closer shot of the baseball diamond.

At this point I've finished all of the "park paths" but to finish up and head back to my car, I included the sidewalk along the side of the park on 97th street.

The park only has the one labeled picnic area.

As I was leaving I took a picture of the beautiful garden the school has near one of the front entrances. It isn't quite visible in this picture but the name Alcott is engraved on the benches.

A closer shot of the tennis and basketball courts. This sign even says the two are part of the school's recreation area and not the park specifically, which is why I didn't include them in my walk.

Summing It Up:Good walking park, activities for children, and dogs are welcome. Street parking only though and not a whole lot in the way of nature viewing. I think I saw one or two birds. I give it a 3/5 stars overall. Pretty average park but nice.

Next Park: Algonquin Park in Brown Deer