City tries to discover new name for new road

Discovery Parkway is the new name being pitched for the road that will connect Watertown Plank Road and Swan Boulevard on the Innovation Park campus.

After Wauwatosa officials deemed the name Technology Parkway uninspiring and too generic, city staff met with representatives from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Real Estate Foundation to brainstorm some alternatives.

"As a compromise, they have suggested Discovery Parkway," Paulette Enders, city economic development director told Community Development Committee on Tuesday.

The committee, on a 6-1 vote, accepted the suggestion and forwarded it the Common Council for consideration next week.

"It really does a good job of encapsulating everything this development is going to be about," Alderman Bobby Pantuso said.

He recalls romping around the County Grounds discovering wildlife with his family. The word "discovery" bridges the nature aspect of the butterflies and green space wit the technology, specifically the research discoveries that will be made in the buildings.

Alderman Jason Wilke was the one holdout. He was interested in finding a fitting Native American name and had been consulting cultural experts at the university for suggestions.

"A lot of things in Wisconsin have been named in honor of the people who were first here," he said.

His fellow committee members liked the idea and believed names with historical and cultural meaning could be considered as more roads are installed on the campus or as the land that was donated to become a park gets named.