Photo Credit: GPA Photo Archive/Flickr
The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing regarding the future of the Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory, known as the Domes, on Wednesday evening, Sept. 18.
The public is encouraged to attend, learn more and share input about a proposed $66-million plan to renovate and revitalize the Mitchell Park Domes and surrounding park. The public hearing at the Mitchell Park Domes Annex, 524 S. Layton Blvd., will start at 6 p.m. It will follow an informal “open house” starting at 5 p.m., where the public can review information about the plan. Staff from ArtsMarket, Inc., will make a presentation at 6 p.m. The Montana-based consulting and research firm developed the 160-page plan, Re-envisioning Mitchell Park and its Domes for the Next 50 Years, in consultation with the Domes Task Force. Public comment will begin after the presentation. Supervisors will listen to members of the public who wish to speak.
After nearly three years of work, in early August the Domes Task Force recommended a “Business Plan and Conceptual Design” for the Domes to the Board of Supervisors. The County Board established the Mitchell Park Conservatory Domes Task Force in 2016 to develop a comprehensive long-term plan for the repair and preservation of the Domes. The plan’s foundational premises are that the mid-century Domes, unique in the world, are historically significant, valued by greater Milwaukee residents and worthy of preservation. Additionally, they are Milwaukee’s urban horticultural destination and an anchor of the Clarke Square neighborhood, one of the city’s most dense and diverse areas. The plan projects that increasing activity in and around the Domes will yield $160 million in economic impact over 10 years, support 300 high-quality jobs and create a hub for workforce development. It would also develop ways and reasons to extend visits to the Domes and Mitchell Park.
A Multi-Pronged Approach
The master plan proposes investments in the project to come from several sources, including private philanthropy, historic tax credits, governmental grants and Milwaukee County expenditures.
Other plan collaborators include Milwaukee-based Engberg Anderson Architects; Saiki Design, a Madison-based landscape architectural firm; Preserve, LLC; and Durkin Associates.
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The architectural design includes full restoration of the neglected Domes and renovation and expansion of the overall complex. A 15,000-square-foot new visitor center would be built south of the Domes, centered on the axis formed by the Rainforest and Desert domes and Mitchell Park’s former Sunken Garden. Plants and other goods for sale could spill out into the courtyard of a new gift shop and snack bar. Additionally, “the visitor center’s lower level will house an expansive hall to host events, from weddings to farmers markets to horticultural or medical research symposia and gatherings of schoolchildren. The hall will feature an immediate view of the 23,000-square-foot revamped sunken water garden plaza, just outside and easily accessible to the wedding garden directly east of the building.”
The existing round transition greenhouse, between the Domes and an access road to the north, would become a full-service, farm-to-table restaurant with an outdoor terrace offering views of downtown Milwaukee. A secondary Domes entrance in this area would connect with the existing bridge to the Hank Aaron Trail and Three Bridges Park. The 8,800-square-foot boathouse pavilion overlooking Mitchell Park’s lagoon would be upgraded.
A new function of the park would be that of a “Wellness and Horticulture Learning Campus.” The Annex greenhouse currently used for events would be repurposed into a demonstration kitchen, research laboratory space, seminar rooms and classrooms for students of all ages. Three greenhouses would continue being used to grow plants for county parks. Three others would become educational botanical labs, with potential programs for youth apprenticeships, workforce urban-agriculture support and community wellness services. The greenhouse complex, completed in 2015, was funded by Wisconsin’s Department of Transportation to replace Milwaukee County greenhouses displaced by a freeway expansion.
“The addition of a restaurant and improvement of event venues will showcase the park as a destination for celebrations,” the plan says. “The conservatories themselves and the surrounding park landscape will largely retain their existing uses, but the spatial needs of new programming will require both existing spaces to be overhauled and exciting new spaces to be constructed.”
Interior space between the three Domes will be used as a commons area for eating and relaxation, and the existing front entrance would open to outdoor seating. Expanded Domes programming would “bring the world of plants, their ecosystems and cultures to Milwaukee through changing exhibits and programs.” A new Family Discovery Garden would invite children to learn about plants, food and ecology through hands-on exploration and play.
Proposed landscape improvements to the 61-acre park include more paths, a new narrow road, better lighting and terraced seating for outdoor performances and weddings within the existing amphitheater. A revitalized lagoon, stream-circulation system and new reflecting pool would all incorporate “watershed-stewardship best practices.” The park would continue to provide picnic areas, trails for strolling and bicycling, a playground, a football stadium and possibly more single-use sports areas. Originally designed in the late 1890s by Warren H. Manning, a nationally renowned landscape architect and pioneering environmental planner, Mitchell Park boasts rolling topography and scenic views. Manning was involved in designing five of Milwaukee’s earliest parks.
