Milwaukee Public Museum's future home moves closer to reality as demolition starts at the downtown project site
The development of Milwaukee Public Museum's future home is taking another step forward with a Tuesday start to demolition at the downtown project site.
The 2.4-acre site being cleared is east of North Sixth Street, between West Vliet Street and West McKinley Avenue, north of Fiserv Forum's parking structure.
“Seeing work begin on site here in Milwaukee’s Haymarket neighborhood is very exciting," said Ellen Censky,museum president and chief executive officer.
"We’ve achieved some major milestones recently, including securing funding support from both the state and Milwaukee County, and it’s great to see the physical progress on the site as well,” said Censky, in a statement.
The County Board in March voted to provide $45 million in county funds for the $240 million project. Along with $40 million provided by the state, museum officials are raising $150 million in private funds and are seeking $5 million in federal grants.
Museum officials want to begin construction in late 2023, with completion in 2026.
The museum's exterior design is to be disclosed this summer, with information on exhibit design likely coming before the end of the year, a museum representative told the Journal Sentinel.
Some exhibits in the current building, 800 W. Wells St., will not be part of the new facility because of reduced space.
The new museum, tentatively named the Wisconsin Museum of Nature and Culture, will include more culturally relevant exhibits, Censky has said.
The 480,000-square-foot public museum, with around 150,000 square feet of exhibit space, opened in 1963.
Renovating the current building, which is too large, inefficient and in need of $70 million in deferred maintenance projects, would cost $250 million, according to museum officials.
The new 230,000-square-foot building will feature exhibit space totaling 80,000 square feet, underground parking, a café, gift shop, collections research and storage, a classroom, auditorium, an events venue, offices and an exhibit maintenance workshop.
The cost of designing and constructing the new museum and its exhibits is estimated at $190 million. Additional costs include $25 million for the museum's endowment, $20 million to move the collections and $5 million to pay for the fundraising campaign and project management.
An initial plan to include a new home for Betty Brinn Children's Museum at the new building was dropped in April due to rising costs.
Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Demolition begins at Milwaukee Public Museum's future downtown site
