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Mifflin Street won’t be closed for annual party

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The Madison Police Department denied the request by Mifflin Street residents who hoped to close the street for the annual block party May 4.

Several residents of the street met with Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, and MPD officers last week to negotiate temporarily barricading the street from car traffic during the party.

UW-Madison student and Mifflin Street resident Dan Hudson was among those interested in closing the street for at least several hours during the party. He organized a petition circulated among street residents to request closure. Hudson said the petition yielded 356 signatures.

But officers maintained their precautionary stance on the block party, citing safety and crowd-control concerns as reason to keep the street open.

“The concern is that if the barricades go up, a lot more people will come and when the barricades come down, [police officers] won’t get people out easily,” Verveer said.

The traditional block party dates back to 1969, when the rite of spring began in conjunction with Vietnam War protests. In 1996, the face of the block party was permanently altered when rioters started fires in the street, hurled cans and bottles at police and firefighters and burned a parked car.

Since then, city officials have cautioned against allowing partygoers to revel in the street.

“The party has changed substantially because of the riot,” Verveer said.

Hudson said he was not surprised that police officers denied his request because of the problems the party has caused in past years.

“[The police] said they feel like they needed to draw a line in the sand,” he said. “They thought it would probably work out fine, but they don’t want it to become a giant party.”

Hudson said he has organized block parties on other campus-area streets, but did not file a formal permit application with the city to close Mifflin Street.

Hudson said filing a formal permit application essentially holds the applicant responsible for the party, in which case the application must be considered by the city’s Street Use Staff Team.

“I didn’t fill out the application because I don’t want to take responsibility for all of Mifflin,” Hudson said.

Kelli Lamberty of the staff team said although the group usually grants the majority of block party street-closure requests, parties that have had problems in the past typically are denied permits.

“The history of the event definitely impacts the decision,” Lamberty said.

Mayor Sue Bauman agreed the street should not be blocked and said safety should be a priority.

“After what happened in 1996, we need to make sure it is a celebration of spring,” Bauman said.