Throughout the long, winding, and oft-contentious saga of the new (and as-yet-unnamed) Milwaukee Public Museum, MPM staff has said that the current museum will remain open more or less until the new location opens. “Early 2027” has been the timeframe given for the new museum’s opening. That means the current museum is expected to remain open “through most of 2026.”
Sounds like plenty of time, right? Well, maybe not: Today, MPM announced that the first round of “deinstallation” will begin Monday, April 7. That’s next week!
This process will include packing up “a few hundred” items currently on display throughout the museum, temporarily closing the third floor Asia gallery and using it as a “staging area,” and completely closing and deinstalling the Pre-Columbian America Mezzanine above the third floor. (The packing process for items in MPM’s storage began in early 2024.)
“During this first round of object deinstallation,” MPM says, “we will gain crucial information that will improve future processes and help us better determine timelines for other exhibit closures. This will ensure that our guests have advanced notice so they can visit other cherished exhibits in the current Museum before the new museum opens in 2027.”
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MPM adds that “the artifacts and specimens that are removed will be on display in the new museum’s exhibit gallery Living In A Dynamic World—an entire floor full of immersive scenes that depict people, plants, and animals found across different landscapes.”
MPM has a full FAQ about the deinstallation process HERE. In it, we learn (among other things) that “this first round of deinstallation will have minimal impact on the visitor experience,” that the Pre-Columbian America Mezzanine above the third floor “is the only wing in the museum that will be fully deinstalled during this closure,” and that future deinstallation projects will be announced ahead of time.
The new MPM is currently under construction on the corner of Sixth and McKinley streets in downtown Milwaukee. Exterior work is expected to be finished by the end of 2025.
Sigh. The end is near. At least The Quest For Beaver remains untouched. For now.
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