As the reopening of a renovated Lisa Link Peace Park approaches, those who live and work near the park have mixed feelings about the redevelopment of the embattled strip of State Street.
Peace Park, which throughout the years has become notorious as a hotspot for crime and homelessness, will reopen September 17, said Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4. The newly renovated park includes a visitor’s center with a small police kiosk and public restrooms.
In addition to the new police presence at Peace Park, an ATM inside the visitor’s center will become operational after the reopening, likely causing the dispersion of panhandlers who often beg near Peace Park because of a restrictive city ordinance prohibiting them from being within 50 feet of the machine.
Verveer said Peace Park prior to the renovation was a “pathetically underused” eyesore. He said he hopes the crime and decay problems that plagued the park in the past fade away after the reopening.
“I certainly hope and expect it will be popular and well-received,” Verveer said. “I’m hoping all of the former negative connotations of the park will go away.”
Madison Police Central District Lt. Dave McCaw said most of the panhandlers or criminals who frequented the Peace Park vicinity have relocated to Concrete Park, the area between the Towers and Statesider.
McCaw said his memories of Peace Park are of a quieter facility without the frequent crime problems that have recently arisen at the park. He said he hopes the new park becomes less riddled with crime and a more popular public gathering spot.
Steve Manley, owner of B-Side Records adjacent to the park, said while he has noticed crime at Peace Park over the years, he is not ready to predict the outcome of the renovation.
“It’ll look nice,” Manley said. “I’m kind of taking a wait-and-see approach.”
One Peace Park panhandler, Shaide McKinnie, said he will likely still visit Peace Park post-renovation but does not agree with the displacement of panhandlers.
“I think it’s stupid that they even have spots for people that are homeless,” McKinnie said. “I have to survive, if it’s the middle of winter, what am I going to do? I’m a traveler; I’m a vagabond.”
