On one of this month’s unseasonably mild afternoons, laughter and giggles filled the playground at North Omaha’s Miller Park.
Children ran from slides to swings and on to something else as parents and grandparents watched from picnic tables and benches.
Nearby, beneath towering sycamore, catalpa and linden trees, a family sat down to supper at a picnic table.
Across the park, a man relaxing after work unleashed his dogs and let them run at a newly completed dog park.
Miller Park, one of Omaha’s oldest parks, neglected and sometimes overshadowed by the city’s problems with crime, has been restored to its place among Omaha’s crown jewels.
And the families whose homes surround the park have voted with their feet, filling all corners of its 80 acres: walking the trail; playing golf and basketball; bringing kids to the splash pad, playground and swimming pool; and visiting at benches and picnic tables.
“It invites people to have fun,” a young mother, Adriana Rodriguez, said of the refurbished park. Rodriguez brings her 7-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son to the park every week. “It’s a lot safer with these improvements. It’s more child-friendly; it’s more family-friendly.”
Three years ago, the Lozier Foundation, in collaboration with the Omaha Parks Department and other donors, set out an ambitious plan: Return the park to its old glory, but with updates to appeal to today’s families. A thriving park, the theory went, would feed positive energy into the surrounding neighborhoods.

The new dog park was celebrated in a grand opening on Friday. Restrooms, security cameras and improvements to Miller Park’s pavilion are still planned.
Other improvements include a cushiony, kid-friendly surface at the playground, a high-tech soccer training wall, musical hopscotch that teaches children their numbers, picnic shelters, an amphitheater, pickleball and basketball courts, and a fountain. One hundred new trees, including birch, maple, oak, fir and spruce, have been planted.
The latest addition, a dog park, was celebrated Friday at a grand opening.
Still to come, according to John Williams, an Omaha parks planner, are restrooms by the playground, security cameras and improvements to the pavilion so that it can be used for more meetings, wedding receptions, reunions and youth programming.
The park, between 24th and 30th Streets, just south of Redick Avenue, has seen about $2.9 million in donor-funded improvements since 2018. The city has provided about $100,000.

A wooded area is seen at Miller Park in North Omaha on Thursday, November 5, 2020.
A separate philanthropic undertaking, led by other donors, was the park’s $1.7 million Kerrie Orozco Memorial Ballfield, built in honor of a beloved Omaha police officer slain in 2015. It opened last year.
Bob Braun, executive director of the Lozier Foundation, said Miller Park had many of the attributes needed for success.
The park itself is scenic (the state’s largest larch tree is there), the nearby neighborhoods have strong leadership, and there is a reasonable percentage of surrounding owner-occupied homes, which provide stability.
“This was a gem sitting there, and for really not an amazing amount of money, you could really make a difference,” Braun said. “The idea was to get families into the park ... and to make it a center for the community. It seemed doable, and so far it’s working. That’s very cool.”
It’s not by accident that the Lozier Foundation cast its gaze on Miller Park. Lozier’s identity is bound up in North Omaha, Braun said.
The company, which describes itself as the nation’s largest manufacturer of store fixture systems, is headquartered in northeast Omaha. And the Lozier family hails from the neighborhood — Allan Lozier, chairman emeritus of the company, grew up just west of the park. He and his wife, Dianne, started the Lozier Foundation.

Mike Rice

Chad Cawthon
The private financial investment has been amplified by the on-site city staff who neighborhood residents say have proved pivotal to the park’s success. Park caretaker Chad Cawthon and Mike Rice, who oversees the golf course, make the public feel welcome and have gotten the park in its best shape in years, residents say.
“Honestly, they’re instrumental,” Michelle Jackson-Triplett, president of the Miller Park Minne Lusa Neighborhood Association, said of Cawthon, Rice and the staff.
“What (Cawthon) has done for the grounds around that park deserves an award. It looks cared for, it’s cheerful and welcoming, it makes you want to be here,” she said.
Jim Beatty, a longtime Omaha golfer and executive editor of the monthly magazine African American Golfer’s Digest, credited Rice with making Steve Hogan Golf Course at Miller Park “the most family-friendly course in the city.”
Youths can play golf for free at the par-3 course and get free lessons.
“Mike Rice is a stabilizing force at Miller Park. He knows the golfers by name, and they know him by name. They even know the name of his puppy (Ginger, a Shih Tzu).”
Rice credited the city’s renewed investment in the golf course, through additional staff and funding, for its turnaround.
“It used to be Omaha’s best-kept secret,” he said. “Not any more, judging by the number of people golfing.”

People golf on the Steve Hogan Golf Course at Miller Park in North Omaha.
Miller Park was built in 1891 at the urging of George Miller, a founding father of Omaha who was influential in parks and boulevard development. In the years that followed, upper-middle class neighborhoods sprung up around the park as people were drawn there by the amenities and attractive stock of bungalows, Tudors and cottages.
Jackson-Triplett said things will only get better. Home values are rising, and the park is playing an increasing role in neighborhood life.
“It has become a nice, unifying green space that everyone uses,” she said. “It is giving everyone a chance to see each other.”
Shane Leonard has lived his entire life just a few blocks from the park, and he said he’s never seen it so busy.
“Isn’t this neighborhood great?” he asked as he exercised his pups, Penne Pasta and Lily Bee, at the new dog park. “This is one of those places that you don’t realize how special it is until you live here.”
Our best staff images from November 2020

Olivia Noonan, 3, of Omaha, looks up at Santa outside Mulhall's in Omaha on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020. Reindeer Dasher and Dancer will be available to see through Dec. 19 at the garden and home store.

Iowa's Zach VanValkenburg catches a fumble from Nebraska's Adrian Martinez after he was sacked by Iowa's Chauncey Golston.

Iowa's Terry Roberts celebrates recovering a fumble from Nebraska's Cam Taylor-Britt.

A photo of Nathan Pastrana, left and Ryan Helbert sit in memorial across the street to the south of the Sonic at 1307 Cornhusker Rd, on Wednesday, November 25, 2020. A shooting on November 21st killed Pastrana, 22, and Helbert, 28, while Zoey Lujan, 18, and Kenneth Gerner, 25, suffered critical injuries.

Ring billed gulls try to stay dry on the dock at Big Lake Park in Council Bluffs, Iowa on Tuesday, November 24, 2020.

The sun rises behind downtown Omaha on Friday, November 20, 2020.

Ord fans cheer on their team as they play in the Class C2 championship game against Bergan.

Protesters gather for the second night outside the Omaha Police Department headquarters in downtown Omaha on Saturday, November 21, 2020. Kenneth Jones, a Black man, was shot and killed by an officer after a traffic stop on Thursday night.

Nebraska’s Cam Taylor-Britt hits Illinois’s Chase Brown after a first quarter run. Taylor-Britt would leave the game with an injury.

Ord players react as their Class C2 championship trophy is handed to them after defeating Bergan.

Omaha Westside quarterback Cole Payton (9) hugs and lifts head coach Brett Froendt following the Elkhorn South vs. Omaha Westside Class A football state championship game at Omaha Westside High School on Friday, November 20, 2020. Omaha Westside won the title 37-21.

Illinois's Josh Imatorbhebhe catches a second-quarter touchdown pass over Dicaprio Bootle to give them a 21-7 lead.

Aurora's Aaron Jividen, right, comforts Jameson Herzberg after the lost the Class B state title to Elkhorn.

The 2020 "Christmas at Union Station" tree is brought inside the Durham Museum in Omaha on Monday.

Nebraska kicks off to Penn State after a second-quarter touchdown to a nearly empty Memorial Stadium due to the pandemic.

Penn State's Will Levis is taken down by Nebraska's Ben Stille on the final down for the Penn State offense during their game Saturday in Lincoln.

Nebraska quarterback Luke McCaffrey, left, and Head Coach Scott Frost, right celebrate their win over Penn State.

Nebraska's Cam Taylor-Britt and Penn State's Jahan Dotson both go up for the ball in the end zone during their game on Saturday in Lincoln. The pass was incomplete.

Nebraska runs out of the field after the tunnel walk before they play Penn State.

Everyone tries to keep up with Nebraska's Luke McCaffrey during their game on Saturday in Lincoln.

Flags of the five military branches are flown during a Veterans Day drive-thru event at Platteview High School in Springfield on Wednesday, November 11, 2020. The student-led tradition, now in its nineteenth year, was held outside this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Dean Mathisen looks at memorials before the start of Veterans Days ceremonies at Memorial Park on Wednesday.

A woman waves from her car during a Veterans Day drive-thru event at Platteview High School in Springfield on Wednesday, November 11, 2020. The student-led tradition, now in its nineteenth year, was held outside this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Nebraska's Luke McCaffrey is shoved out of bounds by Northwestern's Adetomiwa Adebawore during their game on Saturday in Evanston.

Nebraska head coach Scott Frost walks on to the field with his team fir the start of their game on Saturday in Evanston.

Northwestern's Peyton Ramsey is hit by Nebraska's Luke Reimer and fumbles the ball during their game on Saturday in Evanston.

Isaiah Ross waves a Biden for President flag during a celebration at 72nd and Dodge Streets on Saturday.

A worker disinfects the seats inside Pinnacle Bank Arena between state volleyball matches on Friday, November 06, 2020.

Bellevue West wide receiver Keegan Johnson runs the ball with Kearney defensive back Tanner Johnson on his heels.

Omaha Skutt's Abigail Schomers celebrates a point against against Ashland Greenwood.

People eat lunch under a tree bearing bright autumn leaves at Miller Park in North Omaha on Thursday, November 5, 2020.

The sun sets near Bancroft Elementary School in southeast Omaha. The sun is going down a minute earlier every day, and this evening it will do so at 5:14.

Belleue West players celebrate a point against Papio South.

Derek Rau and his service dog Voodoo walk to a polling booth in Omaha on Tuesday, November 3, 2020.

Alayna Gonzalez, 8 months, sits with her dad, Hector Gonzalez, of Omaha, while waiting for her mom, Ana Gayton (not pictured), to finish voting so he can take his turn at the Disabled American Veterans hall in South Omaha on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, 2020.

Voters occupy all the booths inside Bethel Lutheran Church, 1312 S. 45th St., on Tuesday. There were close to 30 people in line when the doors opened.

A person votes at the Omaha Community Playhouse in Omaha on Tuesday, November 3, 2020.

Volunteer Jay Mason throws way political signs that were too close to the polling place at Bethel Lutheran Church located at 1312 South 45th Street on Tuesday, November 03, 2020.

Bancroft Elementary School in South Omaha on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, 2020.

Sidewalk chalk messages at 13th and Bancroft Streets in South Omaha on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, 2020.

Rep. Don Bacon greeted drivers at 72nd Street and Highway 370 in Papillion.

A spooky reminder to vote in a home's yard near 72nd and Cass Street in Omaha on Thursday, October 22, 2020.

The line for early voting wraps back and forth at the Douglas County Election Commission on Saturday, October 31, 2020.

Rep. Don Bacon leaves a brochure while campaigning door-to-door in Papillion on Friday.

Democrat Kara Eastman keeps an Election Day countdown in the front room of her campaign office at 72nd and Farnam Streets.

Rida Rahman, 4, waits in line with her parents, Hafiz Rahman, left, and Shamsun Ruby, right, at the Douglas County Election Commission on Saturday, October 31, 2020. Rida was dressed as Raphael, from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, while her parents were in line for early voting.
"What (Chad Cawthon) has done for the grounds around that park deserves an award. It looks cared for, it's cheerful and welcoming, it makes you want to be here," - Michelle Jackson-Triplett, president, Miller Park Minne Lusa Neighborhood Association
"Mike Rice is a stabilizing force at Miller Park. He knows the golfers by name, and they know him by name. They even know the name of his puppy (Ginger, a shitzu)."
- Jim Beatty, executive editor, African American Golfer's Digest