Image by Ennead and Kohler Slater
Milwaukee Public Museum exterior rendering
Milwaukee Public Museum exterior rendering
In the past several decades many long-time Milwaukee institutions have been updated and re-imagined or demolished and rebuilt. County Stadium, MECCA and the Bradley Center are just a few of the fondly remembered institutions which will forever be a part of Milwaukee history.
When the much beloved, county-owned Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) announced that it would prove too costly to repair, maintain, and update its current building, most Milwaukeeans were a little sad but generally accepted the idea of a new museum being built from the ground up. The public had also been hearing for years about the budget shortfalls and struggles to fund the museum properly, so the announcement wasn’t that much of a surprise. According to MPM’s Chief Planning Officer Katie Sanders, “the museum had to look at the long-term sustainability of the museum to ensure that the collections are protected in a facility that meets the standards of museum care, with exhibit experiences that are up to date, relevant and present new information as science evolves.”
Earlier this year, images of the new museum and galleries were released over the course of a few months, allowing the public the opportunity to examine the plans. Exciting new pictures of a stunning, modern five-story building with a green rooftop terrace that includes an enclosed butterfly garden piqued public interest and curiosity. Five permanent galleries and related exhibits with distinctive themes are expected to incorporate several of the dioramas and collections visitors of the current museum are familiar with, in new and modern ways.
“We have spent a lot of time listening to people [in the community] and know we can’t just pick up the current Museum and plop it into a new building,” said Sanders. “Our exhibit designers and the staff here at MPM have been working furiously to understand what it is about the experience that needs to be preserved.” The key seems to be about having immersive exhibits and creating opportunities to highlight collections that haven’t been able to be displayed for years, both of which are planned to be important aspects of the new galleries.
Dinosaur Diorama
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The new Time Travel gallery will explore the origins of life, and adaptations of life on our ever-evolving planet, with an emphasis on the Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. This is also where a new dinosaur diorama is planned to be located.
The Wisconsin Journey gallery is to be focused on Wisconsin's exceptional geologic history and the varied cultures found across the state. Said Sanders, “The Wisconsin journey is a different gallery for us because while we currently have aspects of Wisconsin, this future gallery will journey through the different geographical areas of Wisconsin.
Sketch by Thinc Design
Milwaukee Revealed Haymarket Candy Store sketch
Milwaukee Revealed Haymarket Candy Store sketch
The Milwaukee Revealed gallery, what Sanders calls, “the spiritual successor to the Streets of Old Milwaukee,” will be centered around an immersive streetscape that will demonstrate the history of the people, neighborhoods and ecologies that created the foundation of our city.
The Living in a Dynamic World gallery will lead visitors through various global ecosystems and will be “an awesome experience to see how humans and other species have adapted to different environments,” said Sanders. While the Mixing Zone will provide opportunities for behind-the-scenes views of the museum’s collections storage areas.
The last of the expected galleries will showcase the biodiversity found in rainforests and the importance of the life that can be found there and will include tie-ins with the rooftop butterfly exhibit.
Reality and Virtual Reality
Sanders reassures, “It will not be all screens.” While there may be some aspects of the new space that will incorporate some screens and have virtual reality capabilities, the current plan is to have many of the most popular exhibits brought over to the new space. “We are a natural history museum,” noted Sanders, “We care for 4 million objects and specimens, and we believe those are the heart of the museum experience.”
There is a lot of optimism being projected by the MPM about this project. Pre-construction is underway and nearly all of the land has been cleared of the previous buildings. Breaking ground for new construction is expected by the end of this year with a targeted completion date of late 2026, early 2027.
This new museum will be another shiny, modern building that will elevate the city’s architecture and overall appeal. The construction will be done by local firms, and there is no doubt that a new museum will be a draw for tourists and school groups, adding to Milwaukee’s bottom line. Leaders at the MPM believe they’ve done their due diligence. They’ve had the listening sessions and made time for public comments. Yet out in the community, not everyone is on board with the narrative put out by the MPM.
Milwaukeeans take a lot of pride in this particular institution. They came as children with their classmates and have fond memories of eating PB&J sandwiches at the long tables in the lunchroom. They came with parents or grandparents who would say “I remember when” as they strolled through the Streets of Old Milwaukee and the European Village. They remember being awed, and perhaps a little afraid, in front of the T-Rex’s dinner while the thunder rumbled in the distance. The famous “Milwaukee-Style” of taxidermy established by Carl Akeley, brought so many of the exhibits an element of realism which made the MPM the treasured institution it is today. To many, it is too special of a place to just accept that it needs to be vacated and moved into a new building.
Sketch by Thinc Design
Time Travel Gallery - Paleozoic Silurian Reef sketch
Time Travel Gallery - Paleozoic Silurian Reef sketch
What started as a Facebook group for people to express their concerns about the new museum, and to reminisce about the current museum, The Streets of Old Milwaukee Club page has grown to nearly 5,000 followers in a remarkably short time. As it turned out, this group was not only about “talking” and recently formed a non-profit called Preserve MKE to begin “doing” something to save the current MPM. Kat Chiu, communications director for the group said, “It’s all about saving the style of the museum. The MPM is among the fourth or fifth largest natural history museums in the United States, and the building itself is an Eschweiler building, which alone would make it special.”
Preserve MKE is working to raise awareness and encourage the public to dig deeper on what the future plans are for the current museum site, what will happen to the exhibits that can’t be moved, and to suggest maybe there is room for two museums in Milwaukee. Preserve MKE isn’t interested in preventing a new museum, but rather they are committed to finding a way to preserve what is already here. “The new museum is going to be more broadly focused on Wisconsin, which is fine,” said Chiu, “but the current Museum is an important part of Milwaukee and should be for a long time to come.”
Whatever the future of the Milwaukee Public Museum holds, there is no doubt the community will have more to add to the story of this well-loved institution. Whether it’s about embracing the new plans, finding a way to hold on to what we’ve had, or something in-between.
To learn more about the new museum plans, visit mpm.edu. To learn more about Preserve MKE, visit preservemke.org.