By Dan Tortorice
Friends of Lake View Hill Park
Scientific studies clearly show the contributions park green spaces provide to our social well-being. According to the Trust for Public Land, these many benefits include reductions in violent crime, stress and social isolation for older adults. Children benefit with better concentration, increased self-esteem and greater resilience.
Madison has ranked consistently near the top 10 in municipal park rankings, but we Northsiders are probably way ahead of that with our big assets at Warner, Cherokee and Lake View Hill, along with many pocket parks right on our own blocks.
Lake View Hill Park is a living laboratory combining the challenges of maintaining a natural and healthy ecosystem with the simple enjoyment of its beautiful setting over Lake Mendota and the proud legacy of Lake View Sanatorium. A brisk walk through our park can leave a person breathless, and not just from the beauty.
Another way people, especially youth, can benefit is by working in the park, and several youth groups worked here in 2018.
Operation Fresh Start (OFS) installed a new metal roof on the old pump house near the water tower. The shed was given by the county to Friends of Lake View Hill Park as a tool storage area. OFS began in 1970 as a program to help young male offenders. It now serves all youth from 16‒24 who could use mentoring and employment training to help them reach their goals. About 8,000 young people have benefited from their programming, and the park will have a dry storage space for important assets such as seeds for planting native species.
Shabazz City High School has a strong commitment to teaching its students about ecology and taking action on a local basis to fix worldwide problems. Students in Ecology and the Outdoors and Advanced Ecology classes helped out in the park this past year. They helped remove invasive species, planted seeds in the new rain gardens and participated in a controlled burn.
One of their students commented on the rewards of doing this kind of work. “These classes are so beneficial to us. Doing all the restoration work we have done has helped me understand it so much more and build a connection with nature.”
The Neighborhood Intervention Program of Dane County also has done work in the park. This year their work included the collection and planting of seeds. When those seeds create future generations of beautiful park plants, these young people will look back proudly on efforts that may have changed the outcomes of their lives.
With about 85 percent of Americans living in urban areas, parks like ours can play a vital and necessary role in increasing the health and well-being of a very large group of people, including those of us lucky enough to live right here.
Learn more about the park at lakeviewhill.org or find us on Facebook at lakeviewhill.