Menomonee River flooding from the storm overnight Aug. 9 has taken over most of Hart Park, turning most of its recreational facilities into water features, and the City of Wauwatosa has closed the park indefinitely to any access, whether by car or foot.
"This includes the Rotary Stage, playground and trails," the city said in an online alert Aug. 10. "We are concerned about additional injuries. Avoid the area."
Pedestrians continued to stroll the grounds during a morning break in the rain, taking pictures and staring in awe at the damage and the floodwaters enveloping the stage, stadium, skate park and other facilities. By midday, police had set up traffic barricades on 70th Street and string yellow police tape across the entrance to the park there and at 72nd Street.
An officer also had parked his squad car on the grass near 70th Street and State and was advising people in loudspeaker announcements to leave the premises.
The extent of the damage was not immediately known, though the water was still nearly at the level of the Rotary Stage at midday. In the Hart Park stadium, the river was rushing in rapids over the south end zone, and the field's artificial turf could be seen bunched up in piles after being lifted and carried by the floodwaters, which also rushed down the train tracks that run parallel to the park.
Hart Park as most residents today have known it was a product of public response to the aftermath of earlier floods, in 1997 and 1998. After the river flooded the residential neighborhood there in consecutive years, homes were purchased and razed and the park expanded as part of a broader flood-mitigation project in a collaboration between the city, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and FEMA.
Get additional Tosa Forward News coverage of the 2025 flood here.
