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Like it or not, the Milwaukee Public Museum is set to move to a new, significantly smaller location in the upcoming years. “It’s time to admit that it’s (nearly) the end of the Milwaukee Public Museum as we know it,” we wrote back in 2019. Why? Well, the museum’s 60-year-old home is simply too old, too leaky, and too beyond repair, that’s why.

“This (museum) was built for another era,” then-president and CEO Dennis Kois told BizTimes in 2017. “And to be ready for the next era, we’re going to have to make sure that we build a museum that is right-sized for the community, that it is technologically-advanced and ready for next-gen exhibits and experiences, and that it’s sustainable in this community.”

So, while he continue to hope that the various snake buttons and howler monkeys make the eventual move, another Milwaukee museum may be tagging along, too: the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum. According to a press release, MPM and BBCM are pursuing an “alliance that would enable the museums to colocate” in MPM’s new home.

Huh! How about that! Here’s that press release:

MILWAUKEE PUBLIC MUSEUM, BETTY BRINN CHILDREN’S MUSEUM PURSUE AN ALLIANCE, COLOCATION
Developing plan to enable BBCM to become a tenant at the future home of MPM

MILWAUKEE – The Board of Directors of the Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) and the Board of Directors of the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum (BBCM) recently voted to pursue an alliance that would enable the museums to colocate.

The proposed alliance would enable the museums to remain two distinct entities, with Betty Brinn Children’s Museum being a tenant in a new, state-of-the-art building constructed for this purpose. MPM, an institution currently housed in an outdated and maintenance-challenged building, and Betty Brinn Children’s Museum, whose lease is almost up in its current space, will both benefit from being located in a new space.

In the coming days and weeks, leadership from both organizations will come together to determine the details of the alliance and to envision how it can further strengthen both organizations’ ability to inspire curiosity and learning for those in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and beyond. In the meantime, additional information about how and why MPM and BBCM are pursuing a partnership is available at mpm.edu.alliance.

So it’s kind of like how Discovery World used to be inside MPM, right? Fun! Here’s that howler monkey!