Milwaukee Public Museum construction starts

Construction has officially started on the new Milwaukee Public Museum and piles are being driven at the job site in Milwaukee’s Deer District.

In May, museum officials broke ground on a 200,000-square-foot, six story building on N. 6th Street and W. McKinley Avenue. The $240 million museum will replace its former home at 800 W. Wells St. and is expected to be completed in 2027.

“Construction is underway at our future museum site at Sixth and McKinley,” museum officials said in an X post. “The project’s construction manager Mortenson and its trade partners have started the 16-week process of driving more than 500 65-ft-long steel beams into the ground.”

Mortenson, the project general contractor, on June 10 took over the site and started earthwork and pile driving, said Madeline Anderson, a spokesperson for MPM. Crews used a crawler crane with a pile hammer to drive 523 piles. 421 piles were driven under the museum and another 117 went under the parking structure, she added.

MPM bought and consolidated three parcels at the 2.4-acre site. Contractors demolished three buildings, removed utilities and carried out environmental testing.

ALLCON, a local women-owned business, will build part of the museum’s first floor. Project partners include Ennead Architects and Milwaukee-based Kahler Slater.

The project received a $45 million grant from Milwaukee County and another $40 million from the state. The museum will raise $150 million in private donations and has raised 70 percent of its goal, MPM announced in the spring. The museum is also seeking $5 million in federal grants.