Revitalize Milwaukee has chosen the Clarke Square neighborhood on Milwaukee’s south side for it’s 2017 Block Build MKE initiative.
The group’s block build events are concentrated, multi-day events in which hundreds of volunteers armed with supplies bought with thousands of dollars in donations to rehabilitate, repair and modify homes in Milwaukee neighborhoods.
Revitalize Milwaukee held its first block build in 2016, when it made repairs to 35 homes on May 21 in the Lindsay Heights neighborhood on the city’s northwest side.
The Clarke Square neighborhood is located immediately south of the Mitchell Park horticultural domes.
The neighborhood is bordered by South Layton Boulevard to the west, South Cesar Chavez Drive to the east, West Pierce Street to the north and West Greenfield Avenue to the south.
Clarke Square was chosen from four finalist neighborhoods that had been nominated to host the block build. The other three finalists were the neighborhood surrounding Lincoln Avenue elementary School on south 18th and 19th streets; the east portion of the Miller Valley on the triangle plot of homes between state street, North 37th Street and West Miller Lane; and the neighborhood located between 3rd and 4th streets on the northern end of the Harambee neighborhood.
Each of the finalists that weren’t selected will receive a “mini block build” later this year, which will be similar, but much smaller in scale.
“In response to the community’s need, Revitalize Milwaukee will concentrate our efforts this year through Block Build MKE and Mini Block Builds  in order to make a larger impact in these neighborhoods,” said Lynnea Katz-Petted, CEO of Revitalize Milwaukee. “At the same time, we will  still continue to be provide free home and emergency repairs for seniors, veterans and people with disabilities throughout the  Milwaukee and Waukesha counties.”
The Clarke Square block build will be held from May 19 through May 20.
