Milwaukee County mulling plan to make Public Museum and Milwaukee Domes neighbors

The Milwaukee Public Museum could be moving into Mitchell Park, sharing a site with Milwaukee County’s well-known Domes structures under a plan the  county board of supervisors agreed on Thursday to study.

The proposal, introduced as a budget amendment by Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic, was passed by the county’s Finance and Audit Committee in a 7-0 vote. County officials will now have the task of studying the likely benefits and drawbacks of having Mitchell Park be home not only to The Domes, as is now the case, but also the public museum. Both The Domes, which house the Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory, and the public museum’s current building, on West Wells Street, will need millions of dollars’ worth of repairs in coming years.

The public museum has been looking throughout the city for a site for a new building, a project that could cost as much $100 million. A county task force, meanwhile, is weighing options for repairing The Domes, work estimated to cost between $40 and $95 million. The domes have racked up about $30 million worth of deferred repairs. Their structural flaws include crumbling concrete supports and a leaky roof.

County officials’ proposal on Thursday also calls for setting up a shared-governance entity that would manage both the domes and the public museum. Dimitrijevic said bringing The Domes together with the public museum could make them both “bigger, better, bolder” attractions for visitors.

“I’m not asking you to join me, I’m asking you to join me in exploring the ideas,” Dimitrijevic said.

Dimitrijevic’s proposal comes after a recent report found that Milwaukee County has a giant repairs backlog for local parks.

In September, a Wisconsin Policy Forum report found Milwaukee County is saddled with a “seemingly insurmountable” pileup of uncompleted work. Two of the most pressing needs identified in the report were the proposed projects to give the public museum a new building and the need to repair The Domes.

The  new task force will look at whether it would be best to simply repair The Domes or to also make various additions. One proposal, which could cost as much as $95 million, calls for the construction of a butterfly exhibit, aquarium and other features. Dawn McCarthy, of the group Save Our Domes, said rehabilitating The Domes would be the most “cost-effective” option.

At least one county official called on Thursday for voters to be given a say over any final decision. County Supervisor Sheldon Wasserman put forward an amendment that would have used an advisory referendum this spring to put the dome-repair plans on the ballot.

The proposal was eventually withdrawn after it was criticized by other supervisors. Had it been passed, the resulting referendum would have asked voters if they would support spending between $70 million and $95 million on The Domes.

Supervisor Jason Hass said the referendum was “offensive” to the ongoing work of The Domes task force, and questioned why the referendum would be scheduled for a spring election, when voter turnout is typically low.

After withdrawing that proposal, Wasserman said he’d call for a binding referendum after The Domes task force had completed its study.

“The bottom line is: Milwaukee County residents have a right to decide their cultural future,” he said.

The public museum, meanwhile, is whittling down a list of possible sites where it might move to in the city.

Museum officials first announced they were looking for a new location for the museum in 2017. They said they planned to have their list of possible sites narrowed down by the end of 2018 and then, the following year, embark on a fundraising campaign to raise the estimated $100 million needed for a new building.

Ellen Censky, interim president and chief executive of the museum, said she and her colleagues will certainly take a close look at the possibility of moving to Mitchell Park.
“The proposed Milwaukee County taskforce to explore the feasibility of collocating MPM at Mitchell Park is just one such possibility and we are interested in the findings,” Censky said.

In a statement, Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele said he’s open to the idea of having both The Domes and the public museum in Mitchell Park.

“We need creative ideas to support the mission and collections of these two important institutions, and I will be interested to see the results of a study that explores the benefits of connecting the two,” he said. Follow @natebeck9