Paul Mathews, president of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, is making the pitch for a downtown museum campus that would include relocating the Milwaukee Public Museum and Betty Brinn Children’s Museum to the site of the Marcus Center’s parking structure northwest of State and Water streets.
Students from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture & Urban Planning this week unveiled concepts and renderings for a downtown cultural campus that would include developing the two museums, along with Marcus Center parking, at the northwest corner of Water Street at East State Street. The concepts, completed with help from Chicago-based architect Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang, were presented as part of the annual Marcus Prize architectural competition.
While the plans served as an educational exercise for the students, they could provide a framework for possible future plans for the parking structure site, Mathews said.
“At this point, it is speculative,” he said. “The next big step would have to be the two museums deciding that this is the location they want to be at … So I would call it a decision-making tool, particularly for those two institutions. We are going to be there. But they have to make the decisions if that’s where they want to be.”
The Marcus Center owns the parking structure and leases the land from the city. Officials have been planning to redevelop the parking structure site for several years.
Meanwhile, both Betty Brinn and MPM have been examining their options to move to new locations.
MPM plans to move from its current county-owned building at 800 W. Wells St. to a new $100 million or more building in or near Milwaukee’s downtown within the next decade. Museum officials are hoping to break ground on the project by 2022.
MPM officials said the concepts unveiled this week are among many proposals being considered.
“Though there has been much community excitement and engagement in the museum’s future home, including suggestions of potential locations and design concepts, we are very early in the process,” said Jenni Tetzlaff, MPM spokeswoman. “MPM is excited about our future and is continuing to explore many possibilities and potential partnerships, one of which is being explored as part of the 2018 Marcus Prize. We look forward to reviewing the concepts as one of many potential options as we move forward.”
Betty Brinn spokeswoman Kristen Adams likewise said the museum is still considering its options.
“The museum has been in dialogue with a number of area organizations, including the Milwaukee Public Museum and the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, as we work to actively explore options and opportunities for potential relocation that will help sustain our mission and continued growth,” Adams said.
Last week, the Marcus Center unveiled plans to revamp its outdoor public spaces and complete a host of interior renovations and upgrades. Those plans include creating a park-like setting for the community in front of Peck Pavilion, renovating Uihlein Hall and Todd Wehr Theater, adding a new outdoor cafe and renovating the Bradley Pavilion, among other improvements.
Mathews said moving the two museums to the Marcus Center parking structure site would complement that renovation project, along with the redesign project underway at the InterContinental hotel, which is being re-branded by the Marcus Corp. as an independent arts hotel.
“If we could develop that site and the two museums would locate there, there is some real synergy of having them together on one site and being next door to the performing arts center,” Mathews said. “The result is a very large cultural center in downtown Milwaukee.”
If it were to come to fruition, the project would join a long list of capital projects that are either planned or underway at cultural institutions in the county, including the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s restoration of the former Warner Grand Theatre, the Milwaukee Ballet’s new Historic Third Ward facility, the Milwaukee County Zoo’s elephant exhibit upgrades, and Discovery World’s expansion and renovation.
It’s created a challenging environment in which to secure philanthropic support.
“There is a lot of competition, there’s no question about that,” Mathews said. “There is a lot going on in the community.”
The Marcus Center has not determined a final cost estimate for its improvement project, which is expected to be completed in phases over the next three to five years.
The UWM student architectural plans for the MPM and Betty Brinn development were conceptual and did not include any cost estimates.
A group of about 16 community leaders including Mathews, will begin working next week on an effort to address the county’s funding challenges. Called the Fair Deal for Milwaukee County Workgroup, the group plans to find solutions related to the county’s funding formula, including structural deficits, deferred maintenance for parks and cultural institutions, growing pension costs and unfunded liabilities and several county capital projects.
A recent Wisconsin Policy Forum report found Milwaukee County lacks the capacity to finance the mounting capital requests of its parks, recreational and cultural facilities under its self-imposed borrowing limits.
