City of Sheboygan demolishes Maywood Park Caretaker Home
The house was located on the north side of Mueller Road on land donated to the city
SHEBOYGAN — The Maywood Park Caretaker Home on Mueller Road was demolished this week by Spielvogel & Sons Excavating.
Ellwood H. May, who purchased Mayline Co. in 1946, donated 119-acres of land along Mueller Road upon his death on April 30th, 1974. Charles L. Barancik of Chicago purchased Mayline in March 1975. To this day, it remains the largest land donation to the City of Sheboygan.
The donation in 1974 consisted of two properties; 105-acres of land south of Mueller Road which was developed into Maywood Park and 14-acres on the north side of the road. The property, located at 3616 Mueller Road, was designated for use as a school or some other city-related purpose. The property had a single-family home that was later used as living quarters for the Park Caretaker. The most recent occupant of the 1,840-square-foot home was Joe Kerlin, the city’s Superintendent of Parks & Forestry.
According to the lease, Kerlin rented the home from the city for $250 per month while he searched for a home to purchase when he accepted his position with the city in 2013. It is unknown how long Kerlin occupied the caretaker home. He and his wife purchased a home in the Garden Neighborhood in June 2016. The barn and other buildings on the property are used for storage by the city.
A master plan for the parkland was adopted by the Common Council in 1980. The Ellwood H. May Environmental Park, but simply known as Maywood, opened to the public in 1983. The longwinded name was coined by Leisure Concepts and Design of suburban Chicago, a firm the city paid to come up with the master plan. While it is owned by the City of Sheboygan, it receives additional operating support from the Environmental Park Trust of Sheboygan County.
The City of Sheboygan and Sheboygan County were planning to build a golf course on the property but those plans were dropped when additional land was unable to be acquired. In 1977, attorneys for the May Family informed the city that they had not fulfilled the conditions of the will, which required the land to be developed for recreational use. Sheboygan County also had plans to develop a golf course and recreational complex along the Taylor Drive Beltline but due to costs, those plans also did not materialized.
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