Community leaders recently got a sneak peak of the first of five nearly completed gateway markers for Clarke Square.  A date for the markers’ installation has not been set yet, but the plan is to install all five on the same day, according to Manni Marquez, director of the Clarke Square Zilber Neighborhood Initiative (ZNI).

The markers will be placed throughout Clarke Square to “demonstrate pride in the neighborhood’s diverse cultures and attractions,” according to the ZNI-Clarke Square Quality of Life Plan.

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They are made of corten steel, a material that self-rusts quickly, giving it a dark brown color that never needs to be painted, according to Jeff Hojnacki, co-owner of Ascend Design of Milwaukee. The markers are being fabricated by Ascend Design and C R Industries Inc. of Cudahy, Wis.

Benito Valencia, 22, grinds a plate for the marker.
Shown in the map are the proposed locations for the five gateway markers in Clarke Square according to the blueprints.

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Raised in a South Side neighborhood where he still lives, Edgar Mendez is the managing editor of the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Mendez is a proud graduate of UW-Milwaukee, where he double majored in journalism and sociology, and of Marquette University, where he earned a master’s degree in communication. He won a 2018 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award and 2014, 2017, and 2018 Milwaukee Press Club Awards for his reporting on taverns, marijuana law enforcement, and lead in water service lines. In 2008, he won a Society of Professional Journalists’ regional award for columns dealing with issues such as poverty, homelessness and racism. His writing has been published by the Associated Press, Reuters, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other media. He has also co-authored three articles published in scholarly journals.