Depending on which news sources you follow, Milwaukee is going through either a “renaissance” or a “reinvention.” Or maybe it’s a “reboot” or a “reimagining,” like that crappy Tim Burton version of Planet Of The Apes. However you want to define it, it’s safe to say that Milwaukee is currently building a lot of new and wonderful things.
• Big changes are coming to the corner of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and North Avenue. You know that old Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) building? Well, it looks like it’s going to be demolished, and the site developed into the home of the new Bronzeville Center for the Arts. The BCA will be a 50,000-square-foot “world-class art and cultural center” that will boast an auditorium, exhibition space, green space, and a sculpture walk.
“The center will be a true destination, celebrating the past while making art of the African diaspora a central focus in the cultural consciousness of present and future generations,” said artist and BCA project manager Mutope Johnson.
And there’s more! BCA recently bought an empty lot two blocks to the west, and plans to build a “gallery space, workshop, and office space” there. If all goes well, the new King Drive / North Avenue facility could open in 2024. [Urban Milwaukee]
• Two Walker’s Point point buildings that are currently used for storage—a four-story building at 126 S. 2nd St., and a five-story building at 160 S. 2nd St.—could be redeveloped into a 182-unit apartment complex. An alley separates the two buildings; plans call for a new connecting structure above that alley. Construction could begin in 2023. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• A $400 million cleanup project is coming to Milwaukee’s harbor area. The years-long project is intended to “bring additional recreation and development to an area that is already seeing increased private investment.” The first step? Building a new $96 million, 42-acre Dredged Material Management Facility (DMMF) along Jones Island. The facility will be used “to store 1.9 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment and other dredging material.” Fun! Construction is set for 2023 and 2024. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• When you think “future cruise ship destination,” you think Milwaukee, obviously. Happily, Governor Tony Evers has awarded Port Milwaukee a cool $3.5 million to build “a new cruise ship dock capable of servicing the Viking Ocantis, a new 665-foot, 378-passenger ship that will enter service on the Great Lakes this year.” [Urban Milwaukee]
• The owners of El Rey plan to buy a vacant lot at 911-915 S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr. and build a “two-story building with first-floor commercial space and two apartments above” there. [Urban Milwaukee]
• Construction on the Couture has been delayed. Again. Time for an extension for federal funds for that transit station that’s supposed to be a part of it! [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• A six-story, 197-unit apartment building could be coming to a site near the old Park East Freeway area, at 1333-1339 N. Milwaukee St. [Urban Milwaukee]
• And what did we learn this week? Well, they’re always building something. Isn’t that right, old song from my old band that recently reunited for a show at Cactus Club and what the hell we’re just gonna keep playing?
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