A new twist has emerged regarding prospects for the Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory, more commonly known as the “Domes.” Milwaukee County officials formed a task force to study a potential conservatory merger with the Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM), which intends to build a new home that could encompass a full city block and be four stories tall. The committee is analyzing whether both institutions could coexist as a single entity in Mitchell Park on Milwaukee’s South Side.
The committee’s charge does not reference the historic character of the Domes or Mitchell Park, one of Milwaukee’s oldest and most distinguished parks. Moreover, task force resolution wording, approved by Milwaukee County’s Board of Supervisors and endorsed by County Executive Chris Abele, directly posits possible demolition of the Domes to create a combined facility: “The newly constructed Horticultural Conservatory shall seek to maintain the square footage of the current facility and should also be able to maintain the current collection of species or more.” It also calls for “a report with two suggestions for a new joint governance model,” including feasibility studies and fiscal analyses, due in March 2019.
One stated goal is the “removal [of the Domes] from Parks Department management.” The report “shall also include cost savings as a result of [co-location]…as well as possibilities to integrate both facilities with the rest of Mitchell Park’s amenities.” The new committee will also analyze options regarding MPM’s existing building, which Milwaukee County owns. Chaired by Milwaukee County Parks director Guy Smith, the committee comprises mostly Milwaukee County employees, along with several MPM representatives. No private citizens are included, although additional members could be added at Smith’s discretion.
An Arranged Marriage?
The Milwaukee Public Museum receives funding from Milwaukee County while operating as a nonprofit organization. Thorny implied issues include whether the long-established natural-history museum would want to assume responsibility for managing a horticultural conservatory. The museum has been analyzing future needs and options for several years. After enlisting a national museum planning consultant and extensive engagement with museum visitors, the MPM board recently announced its intentions to build a new home. Now located at 800 W. Wells St., the museum has identified about 10 potential sites but will not disclose specific contenders. Museum officials said they would prefer rebuilding west of the Milwaukee River, and that Mitchell Park is among sites being considered.
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Roger Krawiecki, long-time president of the board of Friends of the Domes, has frequently urged more analysis of Domes demolition and replacement options. Domes director Sandy Folaron has previously expressed doubts about whether the long-neglected structures are worth saving, except possibly to incorporate one within a new complex. At the Domes-MPM Task Force’s first meeting on Monday, Nov. 26, Folaron said she was excited about “so many possibilities for collaboration” with MPM and new opportunities that the public “will love as much as the Domes.”
“County Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic has proposed Mitchell Park as a possible site for the new Milwaukee Public Museum and recommended a combined governing structure to manage the museum and the Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory…MPM will participate in the task force and is interested in the findings the process will produce.” Referring to an unrelated pending release of unsolicited design proposals for a shared cultural campus involving other institutions, MPM’s statement concludes: “These are just two potential concepts for the future Milwaukee Public Museum, and there remain many viable locations under consideration. MPM also remains open to new options that will best serve the needs of the public.”
Photo credit: Friends of the Domes
A ‘Preservation Solution?’
The National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) has named the Domes a “National Treasure” worthy of restoration. NTHP underwrote a peer review of the Graef structural-engineering study and found that leaks could be addressed for the long term for $18.6 million. Working closely with local partners, including the Milwaukee Preservation Alliance and Save Our Domes and with support from The Cultural Landscape Foundation, NTHP “is advocating for a preservation solution where all three Domes are rehabbed and reused, as a community resource, with programming and sustainable financial operations.”
Until recently, the distinctive 1960s-era landmark was often portrayed as a Milwaukee symbol. Nonetheless, despite the high level of affection the Domes consistently engender, they have been increasingly under-promoted and marginalized by the Abele administration. For example, the Domes are inexplicably not listed among 25 “attractions” on Visit Milwaukee’s Official Visitors Map for the third consecutive year.
The Mitchell Park Conservatory Task Force, which has been meeting since late 2016, recently determined that repairing the Domes and making “targeted investments” was the preferred course of action to serve the public and enhance their appeal as a destination. The original Domes task force recently discussed long-pending studies of the Domes’ concrete support system and ways to repair or replace the glazing system and its support structure. Those studies were authorized and funded in the 2018 county budget. Task force chairman William Lynch said that such analysis “will help to refine cost estimates of Domes’ repair and rehabilitation.” A contractor has been selected for the concrete system analysis, but work has not begun.
Thus far, no request for proposals has been issued to explore options for making changes and repairs to ensure that the glass and its support structure would remain watertight. Having completed Phases I and II of its work, task force members urged county administrators to complete these studies. Lynch expects that a report of its findings will be completed by Friday, Dec. 28, for Milwaukee County Board review this January. The original Domes committee will jointly convene with the new Domes-MPM committee at least twice.
How Might Mitchell Park Be Affected?
At the Monday, Nov. 26, meeting of the Domes-MPM Task Force, James Tarantino, head of recreation and business services for Milwaukee County Parks, said that, while there’s conceivably room for a new museum and related infrastructure in the 61-acre Mitchell Park, there might be significant loss of green space. To accommodate vehicles, he said an underground parking structure could be considered. Much of the regional park already serves designated uses, including some with restricted access. A fenced football field and a clubhouse are controlled by Journey House. An enclosed splash pad is next to a playground and restrooms. A county greenhouse complex and Domes work areas are behind chain-link fencing. The Domes Annex hosts events, including the popular Winter Farmers Market.
Mitchell Park also incorporates a multi-use ballfield, rentable pavilion, outdoor performance stage, parking lots—one with four basketball hoops for pick-up games—and natural areas. On a recent midday visit, throngs of birds perched within a stand of mature trees on a steep slope.
That leaves about 1/3rd of Mitchell Park (about 20 acres) as accessible public green space with meandering paths, lawn and picnic areas and a picturesque lagoon. One of Milwaukee’s earliest parks, it was designed by nationally renowned landscape architect Warren H. Manning, a founder of the National Parks Service and the American Society of Landscape Architects. His famed Sunken Garden—designed to complement Mitchell Park’s original conservatory—was removed in 1994 without discussion of its significance.
Diane Buck, a longtime civic philanthropist supporting Milwaukee public art and parks, thinks that talk of squeezing MPM into Mitchell Park is “completely outrageous. Mitchell Park serves a very important function as a place for strolling, picnics and other passive recreation. A new building there would take up precious green space in this densely populated neighborhood.” Meanwhile, Milwaukee County Supervisor Jason Haas has voiced concerns about losing green space. At the Domes-MPM Task Force’s first meeting, Haas referenced Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell’s memorable 1970 song “Big Yellow Taxi” when he talked about “paving paradise to put up a parking lot” and asked whether lost park areas might be re-compensated nearby.
