Next steps for Mitchell Park Domes redevelopment project

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By TOM DAYKIN

USA Today Network via Reuters Connect

The $51.6 million first phase of Milwaukee’s Mitchell Park Domes redevelopment project – which includes taxpayers’ dollars – is taking some steps forward.

Preliminary plans have been filed with city building inspectors for renovations to one of the park’s three horticultural glass domes, 524 S. Layton Blvd. That work is to begin in spring 2027.

Also, Milwaukee Domes Alliance Inc., a nonprofit group leading the project, is operating a fundraising campaign’s “quiet phase.”

“It’s going very well,” CEO Christa Beall Diefenbach told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

More information is to be disclosed during a June presentation to the County Board’s Committee on Parks and Culture, she said.

Meanwhile, plans for the project’s first phase, which include adding a cafe and creating an indoor children’s garden, are being refined so the alliance can seek construction bids, Diefenbach said.

The board and County Executive David Crowley in July approved spending $30 million to help pay for repairs to the park’s three signature structures – the Floral Show Dome, Desert Dome and Tropical Dome – and make other improvements.

The total cost is estimated at $130 million, including the initial $51.6 million phase.

That phase is to include $12.9 million from Milwaukee County, according to a development agreement with the alliance.

The other public funding sources are $18.7 million from state and federal historic preservation tax credits, which reimburse construction costs that follow preservation standards, and New Markets Tax Credits, which are sold to investors to help fund commercial developments in lower-income neighborhoods.

The alliance also plans to raise $17.1 million from local foundations and other private philanthropy as well as $2.9 million in non-local grants, Diefenbach said.

The development agreement requires the alliance to secure other financing sources before county funds are released.

Those payments are to be provided over six years through installments within the county’s annual budgets.

First phase renovations are to begin no later than the end of 2028, according to the development agreement.

That work, which the alliance plans to start in about a year, is to take about two years to complete, Diefenbach said.

The use of tax credits to help finance the Domes’ restoration was suggested in a 2019 report from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

That approach has been used with other landmarks, including the $228 million rehabilitation of Cincinnati’s Union Terminal.

The National Trust presented its report after a county study recommended demolishing the Domes and developing a replacement to house both horticultural exhibits and the Milwaukee Public Museum.

The museum instead is building a new facility, known as the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin, at West McKinley Avenue and North Sixth Street. That $254 million project is being funded by county, state, and private dollars.

Plans include new education/events space

Future phases are to renovate the Desert Dome and Tropical Dome. Plans also call for creating a new education and events center.

Known formally as the Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory, the Domes house more than 1,800 plant species.

The beehive-shaped structures, designed by Milwaukee architect Donald Grieb, opened in 1964, 1966 and 1967, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.

The Domes replaced Mitchell Park’s original conservatory. It was built in 1898, and was demolished after deteriorating throughout the 1930s,’40s, and ’50s.

Similarly, the Domes have been affected by several years of deferred maintenance − with the county facing budget challenges.

The National Trust named the Domes to its 2016 list of America’s most endangered historic places.

The restoration will focus on replacing the glass surfaces, as well as their seals, Diefenbach said. That’s the project’s single-largest expense, she said.

The first phase is to include mechanical and light systems updates, path upgrades to improve accessibility, and other Show Dome improvements, the development agreement said.

Also, part of a smaller attached facility will become a children’s garden – dubbed the Little Sprouts Dome.

That building is now used partly as a greenhouse, and some of its operations will shift to six other greenhouses on the Domes campus, Diefenbach said.

The portion of that building, known as Greenhouse No. 7, will continue to host weddings and other events, she said.

There also are plans for converting outdoor storage space into a cafe; an expanded gift shop, and a renovated main lobby.

Future phases would feature similar improvements for the Desert Dome and Tropical Dome, along with additional lobby improvements – including upgraded restrooms.

Additional plans include a new sunken garden and a new Nature Learning Center. The center also would provide a second events venue and alliance offices, according to the development agreement.

As part of the agreement, the alliance is to operate the Domes campus through a 99-year lease.