Villard Avenue is lined with storefronts and historic buildings, but looking it over, Brian Rott realized it was missing something. “There’s no coffeehouse in the neighborhood!” he recalls saying. As producing artistic director of Quasimondo Physical Theatre, Rott has performed peripatetically around Metro Milwaukee. But when he saw an abandoned brick building crowned with a bell tower just off Villard Avenue, he decided to put down roots.
The building he spotted is being transformed into the North Milwaukee Arthaus (5151 N. 35th St.). In Rott’s plans, the two-story structure will accommodate a performance space complete with costume and other shops, conference rooms for community groups, street-level retail space and, yes, a coffeehouse.
The development’s name is a nod to the neighborhood’s past. North Milwaukee was once a city, located between 27th Street and Sherman Boulevard, until its annexation by the City of Milwaukee in 1929. The area retained its primarily Germanic character through the 1960s. Unlike many of Milwaukee’s “made-up” neighborhoods, North Milwaukee is a name with deep roots in a district with a distinct history. Villard Avenue was North Milwaukee’s bustling main street, and despite several decades of neglect and decomposition, the bones remain in place. Rott’s eyes, however, are focused more on the present and the potential for the future.
“The Arthaus will make Villard a destination for the arts. Ongoing programming and classes will cultivate new local voices, while performances and special events will bring patrons and revenue from all around Milwaukee,” Rott says. “As another anchor organization, we hope to enhance its character. A great neighborhood should provide residents with all the amenities and opportunities of Downtown while staying unique to its identity. We’re excited to be a part of that and to help make North Milwaukee a thriving community for shopping, business, food and entertainment.”
“Brian’s project will be catalytic,” agrees Stephanie Harling, executive director of the Havenwoods Economic Development Corporation serving the city’s North Side. She emphasizes the collaborative nature of development plans for the area. “A lot of BIDS (Business Improvement Districts) exist in silos, but what we do affects residents. We invite community input in our effort to create the kind of retail corridor the residents will want.”
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One of the first steps toward revitalizing the neighborhood occurred with the 2011 opening of the Milwaukee Public Library’s Villard Square Branch (5190 N. 35th St.), which features two floors of apartments above a ground floor library whose computers often serves the neighborhood residents as a center for information technology.
“These days, we’re seeing good forward movement,” says Caprice Hill, interim executive director of the Villard Avenue BID. “Our BID was dormant for two years, and prior to that it wasn’t managed well. We had to bring it back to the purpose it was created for—to come together, develop community and make the neighborhood more appealing, more commercially viable.”
Public Help, Private Initiative
The Arthaus is becoming a bright example of how private initiative and public investment can move a neighborhood forward. The building it occupies served as North Milwaukee’s city hall and jail; it became a Milwaukee Fire Department station and housed various municipal offices through 1970. A variety of tenants occupied the building until 2012 when the City of Milwaukee took ownership for back taxes.
Rott’s Arthaus partner, Quasimondo cofounder Jenni Reinke, brings relevant experience to the project from her years as manager of the Fondy Farmers Market and the Public Allies Milwaukee program for nonprofit administration. They have received support from the City of Milwaukee in the form of a $75,000 Foreclosed Property Development Grant, plus a $10,000
“Solar for Good” grant from RENEW Wisconsin towards installing solar panels and a Milwaukee Arts Board grant for Celsius 232, a loose adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 intended as a site-specific performance. In addition, Rott and Reinke have raised more than $100,000 in financial support and donations of goods and services from other sources.
All of this has enabled work to begin on the Arthaus. However, much needs to be done if the center is to open by year’s end, as Rott hopes. In the months to come, drop ceilings will be pulled down to expose the original beams. Carpets will be ripped up to reveal the wooden floorboards. Jerry-built internal walls will be knocked down in the interest of historic restoration as well as contemporary needs. Rott and Reinke have launched a capital campaign to raise the remaining $350,000 needed to complete the project.
Working with Residents
Rott and Reinke didn’t simply parachute into the neighborhood, acquire a building and begin their work. At every step they met with area stakeholders to help shape the Arthaus’ vision. All parties concerned hope to avoid the negatives of gentrification, which include driving out existing residents through the rising cost of rent. “That’s not going to happen,” Rott insists.
“We’re looking for a scaling up, not gentrification,” Harling explains. “We’re talking about streetscaping—improving the façade of storefronts, improving the physical environment, filling empty storefronts. The effort is to leave the people where they are and help them build their businesses. There are several other empty buildings owned by the City of Milwaukee. Partnering with the city is absolutely necessary.” Rott adds, “We want to make North Milwaukee a thriving commercial and entertainment district with a unique identity.”
Hill points out that several other projects are underway, including a business incubator and a 43-unit residential facility with retail space housed in a former funeral home. Her BID “will spearhead the Green Light Project, a safety initiative in conjunction with the Milwaukee Police Department to install security cameras,” she says. The cameras will be installed on buildings and patched into the local MPD district. They will be activated upon receipt of a 911 call from their locations. “Officers will see what’s happening in real time,” Harling explains. Hill adds, “We want residents to be more aware. We’re shining a light on dark places. Villard Avenue is no different than any other space in the City of Milwaukee.”
In identifying the neighborhood’s problems, Harling is primarily concerned with “loitering, litter, vacant buildings—nuisance situations. We’ve also organized block clubs to watch for nuisance activities. The residents are taking the lead.”
With several projects in the works, the Villard Avenue BID is working “to come up with a strategic action plan—what Villard can look like in five years.” Harling has an idea. “There’s no reason why we can’t be like Brady Street in five years. The physical pieces are similar. It’s the cultural stuff we’re working on.”
On Saturday, June 16, the Villard Avenue BID will sponsor “Community Cleanup and Cookin’ Up Arthaus.” The event begins with an 11 a.m. neighborhood cleanup starting at Villard Square followed by a program outside the Arthaus featuring live music and poetry at 12:30 p.m. and at 1 p.m., a barbecue with State Sen. Lena Taylor and Alderman Ashanti Hamilton as guest speakers.
