Madison’s Vilas Park is finally ready for a much-needed transformation, and this time, the city is making sure the Ho-Chunk Nation’s sacred burial mounds are protected.

     The city is moving ahead with a multimillion-dollar redevelopment of the Near West Side Park, working closely with the Ho-Chunk Nation and cultural experts to ensure ancient Native American burial mounds scattered throughout the site are respected.

     The redevelopment comes after years of planning and growing urgency to repair the park’s aging infrastructure, much of it dating back to the 1960s.

     Plans call for upgraded playgrounds, modern basketball, tennis and pickleball courts, redesigned roads and parking, ecological restoration, a new shelter near the “Old Woman in a Shoe” slide, and repairs to the sediment-filled lagoon.

     But first, city crews must pinpoint all of the sacred burial sites, even those no longer visible, and take precautions to avoid disturbing them.

     Teejop (Madison) today has more preserved burial mounds than any other U.S. city, according to State Archaeologist Amy Rosebrough.

     “I think it behooves any community to protect their heritage and their history, no matter how old it is,” Rosebrough said. “You can have that history, that connection to times past, and have modern infrastructure at the same time. It’s not an either-or situation, and the city is trying to do that.”

     Initially, the city proposed a full “shovel test”, digging in a grid to check for artifacts, but Ho-Chunk officials raised concerns that it could unnecessarily disturb sacred ground.

     “We would be digging in areas where we weren’t planning on doing a project anyway,” Ryan said. “By doing the study, we could be disturbing resources that would never have been touched in the first place.”

     Instead, the city will rely on ground-penetrating radar and geomorphology to identify sensitive areas without breaking ground. The revised archaeological plan still needs approval from the Board of Park Commissioners and the State Historic Preservation Office.

     In October, crews accidentally disturbed a mound area during tree removal, displacing boulders known to the Ho-Chunk as “grandfathers.” The Wisconsin Historical Society ordered the city to restore the site.

     Over time, 80% of Dane County’s mounds have been destroyed by development or farming, making those at Vilas Park all the more significant.

     Vilas Park, designed in 1905 and named for Henry Vilas, was part of Madison’s early vision for scenic public spaces.

     Its preservation-minded approach can be traced to Charles Brown, Wisconsin’s first state archaeologist, who advocated in the early 20th century to keep mounds intact when developing

     Unlike Milwaukee, which lost most of its mounds early on, Madison retained many thanks to Brown’s influence.

     The city has allocated $150,000 in its 2025 budget for planning and another $2.5 million for construction in 2027. Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway also included $14 million for Vilas Park on her list of future capital priorities.

     Once final approvals are secured later this year, construction can begin, with an archaeologist present to monitor any digging.