UniverCity of Monona

Improving Winnequah Park for all residents
Ho-Chunk history and culture in Monona parks
WINNEQUAH PARK is the crown jewel of the Monona
parks system. The 45-acre refuge in the middle of the city features
a whimsical dream park, meandering lagoon, park shelter and
plentiful open space. It offers year-round recreation, with sports
fields used in the summer and ice skating on the lagoon in the
winter. With landscaping and engineering improvements, the
park could provide more diverse recreation and entertainment
opportunities and become a key destination in Dane County.
Students in Open Space Planning and Design, led by
Professor Samuel Dennis Jr. and Professor Travis Flohr, focused on
improving accessibility, diversifying spaces and restoring ecological
communities. Their designs included strategies to manage storm
water more effectively, provide shade and wildlife habitat, reinforce
the degraded shoreline and connect the park features to each other
with a system of walkways. They also created outdoor rooms that
encourage gathering, learning and lingering, including an orchard,
biergarten, picnic area and kayak launch.
Students in Professor Mark Oleinik’s Civil & Environmental Engineering
Senior Capstone Design class recommended engineering improvements
to existing structures, like renovating the park shelter, expanding a parking
lot, relocating the sports fields so more games could be played simultaneously
and dredging the lagoon to remove contaminants. They also suggested
adding new amenities, including an additional shelter, amphitheater, more
restrooms, a ribbon-style ice rink and a series of walkways through the park
with bridges over the waterways.
Because installing walkways was a main recommendation from both courses,
students in Professor Jonathan Patz’s Health Impact Assessment of
Global Environmental Change course analyzed the health benefits that
residents could gain from added paths. They found the paths would provide
greater access to the park for the elderly, the disabled and parents of children
who use strollers. Those who used the paths could reduce their risk of heart
disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes and other common ailments. Creating
additional spaces for the community to interact could also lead to feelings
of social connectedness and overall better mental health. Though the paths
would increase maintenance costs, students found that the benefits outweigh
the costs and recommended installing the walking paths around the lagoon
and throughout the park.
THE HOOCĄK (HO-CHUNK) have occupied the Teejop (Four
Lakes) area for thousands of years. Their history is on display in Monona
parks, which contain several Moš’ok (mounds).
In collaboration with Bill Quackenbush, the Ho-Chunk tribal historic
preservation officer, students in Professor Jessica Conaway’s class, Culture
and Conservation: Living Ho-Chunk History in Monona Parks,
produced cultural outreach projects to increase the recognition of the Ho-
Chunk Nation, their history and the importance of their continued presence
within the Monona community. These projects included four lesson plans for
K-5 teachers to instruct students on Native American culture, sovereignty, art,
history, knowledge systems and geography. Students also created educational
signage for Ahuska, Winnequah and Woodland parks, a brochure, website
content and a map depicting the Ho-Chunk’s impact on Dane County.
Rising from the heat
“Fire is an integral part of the
natural life cycle of an oak savanna
ecosystem, like the one in Woodland
Park. Ho-Chunk People, native to the
Monona area, traditionally use fire
ecology to protect medicinal plants
by clearing the adjacent area, and to
fireproof areas around settlements,
lessening the risk of uncontrolled
wildfires. The Ho-Chunk Department
of Natural Resources uses prescribed
burns today to manage their tribal
lands, restoring and maintaining
prairie and savanna ecosystems.
Native oak savanna and prairie
plants have deep roots that survive
these fires and get a head start in
regrowth ahead of non-native and
invasive species. Oak trees adapted
specifically to survive fire, with
tough bark that insulates the inner
“cambium” layer which carries food
and water. To this day, Woodland
Park is burned seasonally to maintain
a healthy oak savanna ecosystem.”
The Woodland Trail in Woodland Park guides hikers through a large, oak savanna.
—Students wrote this text for a
proposed sign in Woodland Park
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