MSCR Centennial

January 1926

Serving the Community

Madison’s public recreation department was established. In 1910, the City Council turned over the supervision and management of playgrounds to the Board of Education. In 1926, the Board of Education and City Council worked to establish an official Department of Recreation under the Madison Board of Education. In addition to playgrounds, the evening and weekend use of school buildings and gymnasiums were opened for use for public recreation.

1930s

Adult Sports and Youth Playgrounds. The 1930s saw steady growth in both men’s and women’s adult sports leagues, primarily softball and basketball.

1940s

The Loft, a teenage recreation-lounging center at 10 S. Fairchild St., was formally opened in 1944. In 1946 the Recreation Department opened a Community Center at 16 E. Doty Street that included the Older Adult Klub and Photo Club.

1950s

In 1948, fifty students from the five Madison High Schools: East, West, Central, Wisconsin High and Edgewood established the Madison Youth Summer Theater. This ‘set the stage’ so to speak for the Summer traveling theater called Stagecoach in 1951. For many decades to come, the Stagecoach traveling troupe of high school age actors performed up to 115 shows each summer in Madison’s parks and playgrounds.

1960s

Madison Recreation provided swimming for many decades in the Madison lakes. In 1962, the recreation department offered indoor swimming lessons in the first MMSD high school pool at West High School. Today, MSCR’s popular swimming lessons and other aquatic programs are offered at Lapham, East, West, Memorial and LaFollette schools, in addition to Goodman Pool and Capital Lakes.

1970s

In 1975, MSCR worked with the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art to create a summer mobile art program. The goal was to provide free, hands-on, outdoor art experiences to children ages 3 and older. The colorful vehicle visits local parks, school and events serving nearly 4,000 children annually and has created memories for generations.

1980s

The Pontoon Boat program began initially as an effort to help youth with disabilities learn how to fish in 1982. The first boat was donated by the DNR. Over the next 10 years, the program grew substantially and opened to serve everyone. This unique boating experience allows people of all ages to experience the beauty of the local lakes and is run by volunteers.

1990s

In the 1990s, MSCR grew exponentially. While MSCR has a long history of providing afterschool activities, in 1994 the department officially created Safe Haven and CASPER, a structured childcare program at Mendota, Henderson (formerly known as Glendale) and Lowell and CASPER at Lapham. In 1999, MSCR received three federal Community Learning Center grants to fund a program expansion. In 1994, the older adult program officially became the Goodman Rotary 50+ Fitness program with support from Irwin A. and Robert D. Goodman and the Downtown Madison Rotary Club. In 1999, MSCR worked with the Madison Parks department to offer programming for all ages at the new Warner Park Community Recreation Center. Also in 1999, MSCR launched Afterschool Youth Resource Centers at Black Hawk, Sennett and Whitehorse Middle Schools.

2000s

The momentum of the 1990s carried forward into the 2000s, as MSCR deepened its presence within the community and MMSD alike.   The Allied Learning Center opened in 2000 followed by the Meadowood Neighborhood Center in 2009.  MSCR saw growth in coordination of afterschool programming in elementary, middle and high schools. MSCR began high school extramural sports.

2010s

MSCR opened new community program sites to expand arts and fitness programming. MSCR Odana opened in the fall of 2013 and MSCR East opened in March 2016. Committed to keeping the community healthy, MSCR launched a new mobile program that leads families in active fun and games in 2013. Now called MSCR on the Move. Youth sports and camps also expand.  Friends of MSCR, a non-profit organization that raises funds to support MSCR programs, is formed.

2020s

MSCR continues to be a cornerstone of the community, serving 120,000+ residents annually. To ensure we meet the increasing demand for high-quality programming, MSCR expanded our footprint with two new locations: MSCR Central and MSCR West. With MMSD’s transitioning Hoyt to a high school, staff and important arts and fintess programming were transferred to MSCR Central. MSCR West , the new flagship program center, offers an array of arts, enrichment, fitness, adapted and sports programming.
In 2024, with the growing popularity of Art Cart, Clay on the Move and Play on the Move, MSCR realigned its mobile fleet under one umbrella called MSCR on the Move and added bright, colorful vans. MSCR looks forward to the next 100 Years!