A Place For All Seasons—A Place For Everyone

During forty years of service on the Milwaukee County Park Commission, Whitnall was instrumental in the purchase and reservation of the 660-acre park which surrounds the Wehr Nature Center, as well as the 3,266-acre Root River Parkway adjoining Whitnall Park.

Development of Whitnall Park was guided by Alfred L. Boerner, county landscape architect who believed that a park should be educational, and stressed the importance of nature study within Whitnall Park’s woods and meadows.

During the 1930’s there was a CCC Camp of some 300 men established in Whitnall Park. This crew planted trees, created lagoons such as Mallard Lake, built bridges, roads, and the area at Wehr known as the waterfall. The park you see today is their legacy.

Nature programming started at Wehr long before the building was built. Whitnall Park Superintendent John Voigt directed student Phil Whitford to construct a Nature Hiking Trail that is still part of our trail system today.

Alfred Boerner’s dream of having a nature center in Whitnall Park came a step closer as plans for the building were developed by County Parks Landscape Planner Robert Mikula in 1964. Wehr’s Tallgrass Prairie was created as a research project by now Professor Phil Whitford and Boerner botanist Arthur Ode. Seed was collected from Curtis Prairie in Madison, rows planted, and an old farm field was transformed into a diverse prairie. In 1972, John Doyne formally secured $200,000 from the Todd Wehr Foundation Inc. and matching funds through federal and state grants to allow for construction of the Visitor Center to take place.

Harold Rock leads the Nature Center’s development and is instrumental in building Wehr’s volunteer system. He establishes a group of teaching naturalists, the Wheel-and-Chip Society (a group that builds and maintains our trails), and popular programs like Wednesday Nights at Wehr and the Senior Citizens Nature Club.

Construction is completed in the spring of 1974. County Executive John Doyne, who had worked been part of the Whitnall Park CCC crew as a young man, dedicates the new environmental education center on June 14, 1974. Educational programming begins and grows quickly serving area youth.

The Woodland, Wetland and Prairie trails are completed thanks to the hard work of county laborers and high school aged scouts. The Wetland Trail boardwalk is built from seating planks from old County Stadium. Alongside trail improvements, Wehr’s education programs grew quickly. Alongside the leadership of Paul Brings who was hired in 1977 as Wehr’s Environmental Education Director, thousands of school children participated in nature-based programs at Wehr.

Mariette Nowak takes over for the retiring Harold Rock. She would oversee a major renovation and addition to the building, expand programs, and worked diligently to protect Wehr’s natural areas. Mariette was an early supporter of the natural landscaping movement and in retirement wrote “Birdscaping in the Midwest”.

The Friends of Wehr, a 501(c3) non-profit, was formed to provide financial and volunteer support for Wehr’s growing programs. Between the nearly 40 year stretch, a series of upgrades were made to the center including the first permanent outdoor signage (2002).

As Wehr grew, many field trip requests had to be turned away due to space limitations. Nature in the Parks was formed to expand Wehr’s nature programs out into other Milwaukee County Parks. It was developed and operated as a partnership with U.W. Cooperative Extension.

Over the years, many upgrades took place to meet the growing needs to expand under the renewed vision to be “A Place for All Seasons, A Place for Everyone.” Site improvements took place in partnership with Milwaukee County Parks and numerous community gifts through the Friends of Wehr Nature Center. These included an addition to the Gardner Room (1992), installation of Warbler Bridge (2008, pictured), creation of an Early Childhood Playspace (2010, pictured), upgraded benches and pavers in the amphitheater (2015) and, a new accessible pier (2020).