Milwaukee needs a public observation deck so we can all view our amazing skyline

Chicago has several. St. Louis has one. So does Minneapolis. Cripes! Even Cleveland has one!

And that’s only in the Midwest. There’s also the Space Needle in Seattle and the Empire State Building in New York City.

We're talking public observation decks. And Milwaukee deserves one.

We need a place where people can view our beautiful and growing skyline. A place that allows us to soak in the sweeping Lake Michigan shoreline to the east. Somewhere to watch the sunset over American Family Field and, on a clear day, spot Holy Hill in the distance.

The US Bank Center — Wisconsin's tallest building — has an observation deck on its 41st floor that was open to the public until 1991. But as it stands now, when you Google “Best observation deck near me in Milwaukee, Wisconsin” a top search result is the Hoan Bridge. I love the Hoan, but it’s not the most feasible location to stop your car, get out and look around. That will get you arrested, injured or worse.

I know I’m not the only one who doesn’t think this is a terrible idea.

“That’d be neat,” agreed Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson.

“As mayor, I mean, I've got the unique opportunity to get to the tops of many of these buildings. It's really breathtaking,” Johnson continued.

Johnson went on to say that a higher view would help people gain a perspective on the size of Milwaukee.

“I think if more people had the opportunity to see it, it would open folks' eyes up about the expanse of our city, how beautiful our city is, the architecture of our city, and really help people to visualize just how big our city is.”

Want a bird's-eye view of Milwaukee? Good luck.

I’m fortunate enough that my job as a photojournalist at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has taken me to some really high-up places in downtown Milwaukee with some amazing views.

The scenery impressed me to the point of doing a multimedia project back in 2012 where I captured a series of videos and images from towering locations like the US Bank Building, the City Hall Bell Tower, the Basilica of Saint Josaphat, and a bunch more. Even the catwalk at American Family Field (formerly Miller Park).

The reason for doing that project was twofold: I was genuinely curious what the views looked like from these places, but I also wanted to show them to you!

Unless you’re paying for a hotel room with a view, or happen to have a connection to someone with an office, seeing views like this in our city is hard to come by for the public.

Which leads me to my main ulterior motive, which I must disclose on why I’m arguing for a public observation tower: My family.

After recently researching the cost of Caribbean vacations for a family of four, I opted for a staycation in downtown Milwaukee.

This staycation would be ultimate, I decided. I’d use my “connections” from a decade ago when I did my Highview project and show my family some of those same amazing views I got to experience myself.

My first knock was on the US Bank Center.

I sent an honest, polite email explaining I wanted to take my family to the top of the US Bank Center. What’s the worst they could say? No?

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but that’s exactly the answer I got. My email made its way to the property manager.

“Unfortunately, the observation deck at the US Bank Center is not open to the public for liability reasons. I’m sorry! I hope you and your family enjoy your upcoming staycation!”

Never taking the first “no” for an answer, especially when it comes to treating my family to an unforgettable, unique experience, I countered with the option to sign whatever liability waivers I needed to sign. I even included several fine images I've taken of the US Bank building over the years.

This time the response was two sentences. “Hi Mike, Unfortunately, we cannot allow this. Thank you.”

Moving on. I tried the folks at the 32-story Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance tower.

I’d been to the top a couple times to take photos for work. The views of the lake and the city are fantastic, if I could only get my wife and my kids, who are 10 and 14, up there to see it.

I dreamt of me remarking how “lit, dope and fit” these views are as my girls rolled their eyes at me. The press relations crew at Northwestern Mutual would have loved to help me out, but had “other commitments with our space.”

Wasn’t meant to be.

People are 'starved' for view of the city

People are clamoring for the view. Just ask the folks at Historic Milwaukee who organize the annual Doors Open event in the fall, when attendees can choose from hundreds of buildings in the Milwaukee area to go in and explore.

The most popular? The ones with a view.

“There is always huge demand for great views during Doors Open,” said Grace Fuhr, Historic Milwaukee's special events director.

Stacy Swadish, Historic Milwaukee's executive director, said you have to act fast to get the tickets to high places.

“We have a ticketed one of the clock tower at Rockwell. That one also sells out during our member sale in an hour."

"So, the short answer is people are starved for that,” she continued.

If you build it, will they come and pay?

Mayor Johnson also said, “We've got a great city with a downtown, a skyline that is transforming.”

With all that transformation, perhaps one of these new skyscrapers could build an observation deck into their plans.

I understand Rome wasn’t build in a day and things are always more complicated than it seems. But again, if Cleveland can do it …

Many of the complexities, not surprisingly, lie where they usually do — in the almighty dollar.

“I think certainly Milwaukee's a big enough city, with an impressive enough skyline ... to have an observation deck that's open to the public,” said Matt Rinka, a partner with Rinka, the Milwaukee-based architecture and design firm that was responsible for conjuring up Deer District, Drexel Town Square and the 30-story Moderne apartment high-rise.

But costs can become prohibitive, he said, especially when it comes to incorporating a public space into a private one. An entirely separate elevator and stairway system to accommodate the public would need to be designed and built.

Another option would be to create a freestanding tower or structure that would act as both a symbol of our skyline and an observation deck — like a St. Louis Arch or Seattle's Space Needle.

While it would be cool to plop something as elaborate at the St. Louis Arch on the lakefront (picture a more Wisconsin-y large beer tap, cheese wedge or beer keg), that might be a little overambitious.

It took three decades for The Arch to move from the idea stage to the shovels-in-the-ground stage, in 1965, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The cost to build the Arch was $13 million (well north of $100 million today, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics). Federal funds paid for 75% of that, and the City of St. Louis made up the rest, according to the National Park Service.

The group in charge of paving the way for the Arch also had to petition Congress to establish a "Territorial Expansion Memorial Commission” for the land. President Franklin D. Roosevelt eventually signed an executive order designating an 82-acre site on the riverfront as a unit of the National Park System, according to a 1985 St. Louis Post-Dispatch article.

I’ll ask, but President Biden’s a pretty busy dude. And I’m not sure anyone in Milwaukee is willing to give Bradford Beach to the federal government so we can build and pay for an observation tower to look at stuff.

Seattle's Space Needle, on the other hand, is privately owned by a family that was involved in building the structure for a 1962 world fair. It's unknown how much revenue it brings in — but according to the tower's website, 1.3 million people visit each year, with tickets starting at $30 for adults (and that's not counting the $17 cocktails at the bar.)

How much would people here pay for an opportunity to see their city in a way they haven't before?

The question intrigues Rinka.

"That’s sort of where my head goes — about that as an opportunity for maybe not only as a symbol of the skyline ... but an opportunity to generate a little revenue.”

Or could we just go back to the US Bank observation deck?

The US Bank building at one point had a perfectly good observation deck with a view that — I assume — hasn’t gone anywhere. Is cleaning up that building's attic the answer?

Unfortunately, the only current access point to the deck is through a law firm on the 40th floor. As the story goes, public access ended because the lawyers didn't want a bunch of gawkers meandering through the firm on the way to the 41st floor to snap selfies of the skyline. Which makes sense, I guess.

But like all things in marriage and in life, there's got to be a compromise. Do lawyers really work on weekends? I'm obviously not one, or I'd know that. But if they don't, maybe folks could pay a few bucks to go up there then?

We could all sing a release form. I agree to NOT: a) make eye contact with any attorney I happen to pass by, or b) ask for legal advice.

There! Settled.

Let's see the city from a new perspective

Up close, while meandering through traffic and potholes to work, listening to news reports of violence and reckless driving, we’re reminded that the city has flaws.

But stepping back, or above it, if only for a moment, and looking at our city from an elevation of 600 feet just might give a fresh perspective on the gem we have below us.

Am I suggesting that by building a sky deck, we’ll solve homicides and deadly car crashes? Hardly.

I do think it would, at worst, be cool as hell. And at best, an unbridled view of downtown through this lens might offer an opportunity to reexamine our perspective, illuminating new insights and opening our minds to a broader understanding of the city.

It shouldn’t take being the mayor, a member of the media, or being lucky enough score Doors Open tickets, to have the chance to see a nice view and a fresh perspective on our landscape.

When the great minds in our city by the lake sketch out the next big project to shape our skyline, may they consider building a public observation deck.

Until then, I’m more than happy to take my camera up there and show you what it looks like.

But, while a picture may be worth a thousand words, until you experience that view for yourself, in real life, those words are worthless.

To quote the late painter Bob Ross  “It’s hard to see things when you’re too close. Take a step back and look.”

Mike De Sisti has been a staff photojournalist the Journal Sentinel since 2008. He covers everything from breaking news, professional sporting events including the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Bucks and Brewers to features, and business assignments. De Sisti grew up in Crystal Lake, IL, a suburb of Chicago. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter: @mdesisti

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee needs a public observation deck to view our skyline