The Milwaukee Public Museum—the Milwaukee Public Museum you know and love, the Milwaukee Public Museum with the Streets of Old Milwaukee and the Snake Button(s), the Milwaukee Public Museum located at 800 W. Wells St.—is still open. It will remain open until sometime in 2026.
The Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin—the new museum that will replace the Milwaukee Public Museum, the new museum that will have a “spiritual successor” to the Streets of Old Milwaukee and a new Snake Button, the new museum located at the corner of 6th and McKinley—is currently under construction. It will open in early 2027.
So, with the Milwaukee Public Museum still a thing, and the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin still not a thing, why does Milwaukee Public Museum’s Wikipedia page already call MPM the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin?
Take a look! It’s not “formerly known as” yet! In fact, since MPM and, um, N&CMoW are kind of two separate things, MPM won’t be “formerly known as” at all! It would be like calling County Stadium “Miller Park” when County Stadium was still open and Miller Park was being built!
“In 2027, Milwaukee Public Museum will move into a new, state-of-the-art building featuring the immersive experiences and awe-inspiring dioramas we’re famous for,” reads MPM’s website. “At that time [emphasis ours], we will also change our name from Milwaukee Public Museum to the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin.”
“At that time.” Not “we already changed it.” Geez!
So what gives, Wikipedia? Or, more specifically, what gives, Wikipedia user Bubudu57? It seem ol’ Bubudu jumped the gun and made the big (and incorrect) changes on June 7 of this year. Slow down, pal! MPM may have slowly started the “deinstallation process,” but MPM is still MPM! And the, um, N&CMoW may be hosting a “topping off” ceremony on Tuesday, but the fully functional, um, N&CMoW is still more than a year away!
Anyway, argue about the museum and argue about the Streets of Old Milwaukee. We’ve already accepted their inevitable fates. So it goes. As long as we can get a hold of the “Quest For Beaver” exhibit when MPM closes, we’ll be happy.
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