Back in May, Milwaukee media outlets flipped for the opening of the (admittedly pretty cool-looking) Milwaukee Maze. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, OnMilwaukee, TMJ4, FOX6, and more all covered the hell out of the 10,000-square-foot outdoor maze, located in McCarty Park in West Allis. The attraction proved to be a hit with Milwaukee County residents, too, and the maze was quickly bumped up to 15,000 square feet. As for us, we were going to check it out this week and write an “I got lost in the Milwaukee Maze and thought about life, death, and the futility of modern existence” kind of thing. Fun!
Well, scratch that, because the Milwaukee Maze has been (temporarily) closed due to vandalism. Last Friday, owners Matthew and Krizty Zaccone posted this message to Facebook:
Hello everyone, the Milwaukee Maze will be moving to a private location due to reoccurring break-ins, graffiti, vandalism, and thefts. We feel that it is in the company’s best interest to monitor the maze more closely in order to ensure the safety of the people and the maze. Thank you everyone for your support, we will keep you posted.
“Just the amount of vandalism is ridiculous,” Matthew Zaccone told WISN. “Painting and graffiti and kicking in our panels, tearing down our lights, snapping our fences, stealing our banners.” Zaccone also mentioned complaints from neighbors, saying, “A lot of people flat out told us they don’t want us here.”
So yeah, this is why we can’t have nice mazes, Milwaukee (and West Allis). No word yet on the future home of the Milwaukee Maze, or the status of OnMilwaukee‘s promised Facebook Live event of “OnMilwaukee staff attempting to navigate the maze.” Truly a loss.