Sandburg Park playground equipment, Parks Alive summer dates, Feedback from Sandburg students, Office hours updates, Meeting and Event Highlights for the Week of April 13, 2026

Hi there, 

The first office hours of the year went well.  It was a great opportunity to catch up with residents across the district and hear more about things that are working well and things that could use some improvement overall.  Our conversations spanned topics including housing, affordable childcare, parks, safety and more.  Next I plan to scheduled office hours that will include Madison Police Department, Library, Economic Development, Streets and Community Development staff. These office hours will be scheduled virtually to ensure more residents can have access.  

In February, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway joined my office hours held at Greenbush Bakery. We had great turnout and even greater discussions.  I greatly appreciate the Mayor spending a few hours with us and hearing directly from District 17 residents and small business owners. 

Including Sandburg Elementary Students in the art selection process

When I learned that Sandburg Elementary Students weren't able to included in the survey process to determine which art sculpture would be installed at the Imagination Center at Reindahl Park, I worked pretty quickly to ensure their feedback would be included before a final decision was made.  Why? Well children of course will also be users of the library and children in the Sandburg area I'm sure will be frequent visitors. The vision for this library was with their needs in mind so I believed firmly that children should also have a say in the kind of art that will be installed.  

So with the vision for how children may engage at the new library in the park, myself, and library staff spent time Ms. Hannah's art classes to engage and gather feedback from the students. We had so much fun with them!  Check out their feedback and scores. 

"WHEREAS, Alder Sabrina Madison coordinated an engagement opportunity with the principal of Sandburg Elementary; and 

WHEREAS, on February 26, 2026 staff from the Madison Public Library along with Alder Sabrina Madison met with students in Sandburg Elementary art classes to discuss the public art proposals and to gather student input; and 

WHEREAS, the Sandburg student responses were shared with members of the Public Art Subcommittee prior to their March 9, 2026, meeting to allow them to re-evaluate their scores based on the new information available from the neighboring elementary student stakeholders; and"

Read the full legislation text. 

Many thanks to: 

• Arts & Culture Administrator, Karin Wolf for collaborating to include the children's voices. Madison Public Library staff Carlee Latimer and Rob Franklin for their collaboration to spend a day at Sandburg Elementary to gather students feedback. 
• Principal Lopez and Ms. Hannah for allowing us into the art classes to connect with students. 

With the help of Miss Hannah, we collected feedback from
127 Sandburg students about the permanent art sculpture
selection for the Imagination Center at Reindahl Park:

I'll stop by the school soon to share the update below with them so they know where the City is at in the process. 

Sandburg Park Playground Replacement: 

I've shared this update with Sandburg Elementary's leadership and the Sandburg Neighborhood Association as well.  Madison Commercial Landscapes will be beginning construction on the new playground at Sandburg Park soon.  The new playground will be in a nearby but different location than the existing playground, so Parks have requested that they do not demo the existing playground until the replacement is further along to give folks in the neighborhood a smaller amount of time without a playground. The neighborhood should expect there to be construction in the area for the next few months.

• Background information on this project is found on the project page. 
• Sandburg Park is located at 2818 Independence Lane, Madison, WI 53704

Save the dates for Parks Alive at Sandburg Park

You may remember that I advocated for the creation of the Sandburg Neighborhood Resource Team, which helped us bring Parks Alive events to Sandburg Park this past summer — and they were a big success!
https://www.cityofmadison.com/civil-rights/programs/neighborhood-resource-teams/sandburg-neighborhood-resource-team

Summer 2026 Dates:

• June 30, 2026
• July 21, 2026
• August 18, 2026

More info to come. 

Meeting and Event Highlights for the Week of April 13, 2026

Updates and Notices

Call for Nominations - Reverend James C. Wright Human Rights Award: The City of Madison Equal Opportunities Division (EOD) and the Equal Opportunities Commission present the Reverend James C. Wright Human Rights Award annually. The award honors the late Reverend James C. Wright, who served as the Executive Director of the Equal Opportunities Commission from its inception in 1968 until his retirement in 1992. One or more awards will be presented.

Boards, Commissions, and Committee Meetings

Note: This is not a complete list of meetings for this upcoming week. All meetings and their details can be found at the Meeting Schedule page.

• Transportation Commission: The Transportation Commission meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 15, at 5:00 p.m. Agenda items include a discussion about potential short-term solutions to improve traffic safety on Park Street and other similar arterial streets.
  • Meeting Details
  • Meeting Agenda
  • Register for Public Comment
  • Watch Online

If you would like more information about becoming a member of a City board, commission, or committee, please visit the page linked here.

Public Information Meetings (PIMs)

• Open House Opportunity to Discuss Perry Street Connection Study, Wednesday, April 15: The city is hosting an open house for the second round of public meetings for Perry Street Reconnection Study to discuss preferred alternatives. This public meeting will run from 4:00pm - 6:00pm on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at the Urban League, 2222 S Park St, suite 200.
• Registration prior is required. 

Announcements and News Releases

• Lane Reduction, near Hawthorne Court, on University Avenue: Starting at 8:30 am on Wednesday, April 15, R.G Huston will perform water utility work on University Avenue, between Frances Street and Lake Street.  To access the work site, R.G Huston will need to expand their current construction area and… [posted April 9, 2026]
• MPD seeking participants for the Black Youth Academy: MADISON, Wis. — The Madison Police Department will once again host a summer camp to help foster trust between law enforcement and youth. The Black Youth Academy is designed for middle school students from the Madison area. The free, weeklong camp… [posted April 9, 2026]
• Urban Forestry Planting 1,400 Trees in Spring 2026: Urban Forestry's annual spring planting season begins on Monday, April 13, 2026.Crews will be planting approximately 1,400 trees along City of Madison streets. There will be 35 different tree species planted. When selecting trees, Urban… [posted April 9, 2026]
• Madison Arts Commission Seeks Artist-in-Residence for Thurber Studio: The Madison Arts Commission is looking for the next Artist-in-Residence for the Thurber Park Art Studio. [posted April 8, 2026]
• Celebrate National Library Week April 19-25 at Madison Public Library: MADISON, WI – From April 19-25, Madison Public Library is celebrating National Library Week, an annual celebration that highlights the important role libraries, librarians, and library workers play in transforming lives and strengthening communities… [posted April 8, 2026]
• Food Scraps Recycling Drop-off Returns April 11, 2026, with "Towering" New Weight Goal: Free food scraps recycling drop-off at farmers' markets will be back once again this year, and with a new weight goal. First Market Opening: Westside Community Market on Saturday, April 11, 2026The first market site to reopen will be the West… [posted April 8, 2026]
• Street Closures for Dane County Farmers' Market on the Square: Several streets will be closed for the Dane County Farmers' Market each Saturday, beginning with the first market this Saturday, April 11.The following blocks will be closed to motor vehicle traffic each Saturday from approximately 8:00am until… [posted April 7, 2026]
• Madison police offer free training to prepare people for active shooter events: MADISON, Wis. – The Madison Police Department is offering a training designed to save lives in an active shooter situation. The next session of the Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE) will be held the morning of April 15. [posted April 7, 2026]
• LINKcat Will Be Offline April 12-16 as New Features Get Added; All Madison Public Libraries Will Open Late April 16: MADISON, WI--Library users across the South Central Library System should prepare for down time in the LINKcat app and website beginning at 5pm on Sunday, April 12 and continuing through Thursday, April 16. [posted April 6, 2026]
• Local Air Quality Information Now Available at Love My Air Wisconsin: Data from City of Madison's low-cost air quality sensors is now available on the Love My Air Wisconsin website. [posted April 6, 2026]
• REMINDER: Yard Waste Collection Set-Out Dates for Spring 2026 Now Available; Spring Collection Begins Soon: The 2026 set-out date schedule for the Streets Division's springtime yard waste collection is now available on the yard waste website. You need to look up your home's yard waste set-out dates before you put out your bags of leaves or piles of… [posted April 6, 2026]
• Streets Division Drop-off Sites Hours Expand Starting April 11, 2026; Quann-Olin Drop-off Site Opens: Starting on Saturday, April 11, 2026, the Streets Division drop-off sites begin their summer hours. Also on Saturday, April 11, the drop-off site at 1504 Quann-Olin Parkway will open for the first time. Streets Division drop-off sites are for Madison… [posted April 6, 2026]

Please visit the City news webpage to find additional news and announcements and to subscribe to receive notification of news releases as they are posted.

Events

• Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE) Training, Wednesday, April 15: Come join us for our in-person CRASE Training session where you'll learn crucial strategies for handling active shooter situations. Led by experienced instructors, this event will cover life-saving techniques and emergency response protocols. 
• Coffee with a Cop - North District, Wednesday, April 15: Coffee with a Cop is a chance for community members to connect with the officers who serve their city. Officers can speak about recent cases to department wide initiatives to lower crime in our community.
• Vaccine Clinic at Mendota Elementary School, Saturday, April 18: All vaccines are free for eligible individuals. Children six months and older who lack insurance, are under 19, and are either Alaskan Native or American Indian, as well as those with BadgerCare or most other types of insurance, can receive vaccinations at no cost.
• Bird & Nature Adventures | Starkweather Creek Area, Saturday, April 18: Earth Week Creek Cleanup ~ Join Lance Green and Friends of Starkweather Creek to help pick up trash in and along the beautiful Starkweather Creek greenway that winds through the east side of Madison from Lake Monona all the way to MATC and East Town! Join Friends of Starkweather Creek to help with cleanups by canoe and on foot.
• Bird & Nature Adventures | Warner Park, Sunday, April 19: Looking for Spring Ephemerals ~ Join Naturalist Mary Binkley for a free family friendly walk at Warner Park to celebrate the return of Spring!  Ephemerals are flowers that bloom in woodlands while trees are still bare and sunlight reaches the ground. Warner Woods is reportedly the oldest uncut woods in Madison.  Recent removal of invasive early-greening buckthorn has resulted in a surprising variety of beautiful native wildflowers and more are being restored.

Additional upcoming events can also be found on the City events calendar.

Alder Madison, district17@cityofmadison.com