Milwaukee County Plans New Uses for Former Milwaukee Public Museum Building

With construction on the new Ennead-designed Milwaukee Public Museum starting and expected to be completed in 2027, Milwaukee County is considering what to do with the museum’s existing facility.

The Milwaukee County Economic Development Division filed a Request for Proposals (RFP) earlier this month, providing light on 800 West Wells Street’s future.

According to the paper, the county “is looking at hiring a firm that can provide consulting services.” These consultants would be tasked with surveying the land and determining other viable uses to offer informed suggestions “for divestment.”

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“Once the museum relocated to their new building, Milwaukee County is going to sell the property and wishes to do so with an awareness of the current state and with future value and community benefit in mind,” according to the proposal request.

“The County would like an in-depth knowledge of the value of this property, including its benefits as well as any limitations or difficulties.”

Eschweiler and Sielaff finished the Milwaukee Public Museum’s current location at 800 West Wells Street in 1962, on a block lined with municipal and civic buildings.

It comprises a vast limestone complex with seven floors and four levels of house galleries, while the other rooms serve as administrative and storage areas. Its front is surprisingly bare, with only a few windows.

Ennead will soon transport the museum’s 4.5 million human and natural history specimens and artifacts to the new site.

This new building will built on the northeast corner of Sixth and McKinley Streets, approximately a 15-minute walk from the previous site.

The Milwaukee Public Museum began considering relocating in 2017. A two-year analysis found that staying put and relocating would cost more than $100 million.

Finally, the upgrades from years of postponed maintenance made relocation the more important choice. One of these difficulties is a leaking basement.

In the RFP, the County highlighted a few possible uses for the site: It proposed destruction, adaptive reuse, and parcel separation as possible future uses for 800 West Wells Street.

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The City of Milwaukee Downtown Plan 2040 would want to see the land renovated as mixed-use. It expects residences as well as commercial areas on the bottom floor.

In addition to evaluating the building’s viability, any construction must incorporate the MacArthur parking structure and an existing link to underground DOT tunnels.

The entire RFP details the items that consultants must send. The deadline for proposals is September 11 at 4:00 p.m. CDT.