Milwaukee’s waterfront development to be showcased at October conference

The commercial real estate development along Milwaukee’s rivers and lakefront will be showcased at an international conference in October.
The 22nd annual Conference on Urban Waterfront Planning, Development and Culture will be held Oct. 14-16 at the Pfister Hotel in downtown Milwaukee. The theme for the conference, which is coming to Milwaukee for the first time, is “Gathering By the Water.”
The conference is presented annually by the Waterfront Center, a non-profit and urban planning organization based in Washington, D.C., which was founded to assist communities in making the best long-term uses of their waterfronts for public benefit.
“Milwaukee was attractive to us because it is an up-and-coming city and has three rivers, an award-winning riverwalk and a magnificent lake,” said Ann Breen, co-director of the Waterfront Center.
Breen and co-director Dick Rigby formed the Waterfront Center in 1981 on the premise that waterfronts are a finite resource that can create or contribute to a vibrant economic community.
Combined, Breen and Rigby have backgrounds in journalism, politics and urban and regional planning and are actively involved in restoring and developing waterfronts across the country. Their goal for the center is to offer assistance to communities with waterfronts in balancing environmental preservation with economic and community development.
The organization’s manifesto states, “Water is a defining source that fundamentally shapes the character of each place it touches. The role of water in transport, industry, sanitation and nourishment made it the raison d’etre (reason for existing) of human settlement. It is a feature to be honored and celebrated – not to be treated merely as cosmetic or as just a commodity.”
“Generally, conferences bring together a community of people that are working on a common issue,” Breen said. “What is different about our conference is that there are multiple disciplines and types of people that are involved. We characterize our conference as a place where doers come.”
The conference is open to the public and costs $445 for non-members, if registered before Sept. 17, and $495 if registered after Sept. 17.
Breen said employees of marinas, city managers, port authorities, architects, environmentalists, citizen activists and others from throughout the world attend the conference.
“The range of interests gives a certain dynamism that other conferences don’t have,” Breen said. “It is the gathering of the community. Traditionally we have a water ceremony to start the conference where we ask about 20 people from all over North America that will be attending to bring a bottle of their water. They bring water from lakes, rivers, oceans, and pour it into a common bowl. It is quite moving.”
The three-day conference will be held in classroom settings at the Pfister, Breen said. The topics Breen plans to cover are: new waterfrontiers, programs and events that energize waterfronts, waterfront residential, how boating energizes the waterfront and how ports and waterfront redevelopment can co-exist.
Mike Wisnewski, senior economic development specialist of the Milwaukee Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) and manager of the Milwaukee Riverwalk, will give a riverboat tour on Thursday, Oct. 14, as part of a guided tour of Milwaukee for the conference attendees.
“The waterfront is a natural asset Milwaukee has capitalized on,” Wisnewski said. “Milwaukee can demonstrate (to attendees) the successful ways to develop along the waterfront through our different scenarios, from adaptive reuses of converted buildings, to new construction of property, to open space along the waterfront.”
Wisnewski said the city’s Riverwalk was created to keep connect Milwaukee’s neighborhoods and keep the riverfront open to the public.
“Connections are a very important part of urban development,” Wisnewski said. “All of the people that feel they have a vested interest in the river, that use it to boat or fish, start to raise public awareness about more issues that they see that can potentially improve the water quality, river access and the habitat.”
Milwaukee serving as the host location for this year’s conference is coup for the city, he said.
“It is a recognition that this city has a waterfront community of three rivers and one lake that is reaching its full potential,” Wisnewski said.
The Waterfront Center will also present the Annual Excellence on the Waterfront Award at the conference. The award recognizes developments along waterfronts that exemplify top-quality urban waterfront projects, comprehensive waterfront plans and outstanding citizen efforts.
August 20, 2004, Small Business Times, Milwaukee, WI