Halyard Park Celebrates Legacy of Late Developer Beechie Brooks

On Saturday, September 19, 2026, at Gaines Triangle on the corner of North Sixth and North Halyard streets, a life-size statue of the late Beechie O. Brooks, an iconic Black Milwaukee Realtor and developer, was unveiled. Brooks’ south-facing statue is looking toward the first house he built in Halyard Park 50 years ago, his own house, which marked the start of a major home development project and the beginning of the Halyard Park neighborhood as it is known today.

“To say he was a tremendous salesman would be an understatement,” said Clayborn Benson, founder of the Wisconsin Black Historical Society and Museum and a former friend of Brooks.

The Halyard Park Association, Alderwoman Milele Coggs and Brooks’ daughter Cassandra Brooks (lower left photo, left) played vital roles in the statue’s installation. The statue was sculpted by Thomas Holleran (lower left photo, right), a local artist who has crafted other statues around the city.

“It has been an honor,” Holleran said. “I tried to make the sculpture as inspirational as possible.”

The statue’s pose was inspired by a photo of Brooks at his 50th wedding anniversary and vow renewal with his wife, Vernadine Brooks, in the late 1990s.

“It was a challenge getting to this point, but it’s very exciting to see this day come,” Cassandra Brooks said. “Even though it is a rainy, cloudy day, it’s still sunshine in my heart to see this day come.”