Museum of Wisconsin Art plans new $11 million building

The Museum of Wisconsin Art, an art museum in West Bend focusing on the work of Wisconsin artists, plans to build a new 33,000-square-foot, $11 million building near downtown West Bend.
The new museum building would be located east of the Milwaukee River and south of Washington Avenue, just east of the city’s historic downtown area in a redevelopment district.
The museum plans to purchase a triangular-shaped property from the city to build the new building.
Additional fundraising must be completed to begin construction, said Joan Rudnitzki, director of development and marketing for the museum. So far about $7.5 million has been raised for the $11 million project, she said.
The museum is currently located in a 19,000-square-foot building at 300 S. 6th St. That building was constructed 1939 and several additions have been added since the museum opened in 1961, Rudnitzki.
The museum changed its name in 2006 and re-branded itself with a focus on Wisconsin artists, Rudnitzki said. That change expanded the scope of the museum and necessitated more space, she said.
Original plans to tear down the existing building and replace it with a new one were scrapped when the economy entered the Great Recession. Some in West Bend opposed those plans because objected to the demolition of the historic building, Rudnitzki said. The building was the original home of West Bend Mutual Insurance Company, she said.
The current museum building will be sold. Several buyers, including a restaurateur, have expressed interest, Rudnitzki said.
The museum hired Wauwatosa-based Irgens Development Partners LLC is assist it with the building project. The architect for the building is Jim Shields of Milwaukee-based HGA Architects. The general contractor for the project is Mortenson Construction.
Shields’ design for the new building is more efficient than the existing building and will increase display space by two-and-a-half times, Rudnitzki said.