NOW BY THE NUMBERS

NOW

A dinosaur diorama at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

JFC backs $40 million for MPM, denies funding for state office building in Milwaukee

By Andrew Weiland, staff writer

The state Legislature’s powerful budget committee has approved an allocation of $40 million for a proposed new Milwaukee Public Museum and rejected a request from Gov. Tony Evers to provide $164 million for a new state office building in Milwaukee.

The Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee’s funding endorsement is a significant step toward MPM receiving state funds for its project.

MPM president and chief executive officer Ellen Censky said the committee’s budget approval is “the necessary funding catalyst” for the $240 million project, which

BY THE NUMBERS

Roundy’s says it wants to hire more than 900

people to work at its 94 Pick ‘n Save and 12 Metro Market grocery stores in Wisconsin.

includes building a new museum, moving collections from the current location and growing the organization’s endowment.

“The state’s investment in this project enables us to proceed with design and development plans and provides the necessary foundation for private investment, which will fund the majority of the project’s cost,” Censky said.

Censky has said the museum will seek about $150 million in private donations to fund the project, but it has not yet gone public with a fundraising campaign.

The museum would need another $50 million in public dollars to make up the gap. Censky has said it is seeking additional federal and county funding.

The new museum is planned as a 230,000-square-foot development at the northeast corner of North Sixth Street and McKinley Avenue in downtown Milwaukee. It would replace MPM’s current 400,000-square-foot, county-owned facility at 800 W. Wells St., where the museum’s accreditation status is in jeopardy due to its deteriorating condition. The new facility would also be the new home to Betty Brinn Children’s Museum.

Meanwhile, after state lawmakers declined to put money toward a proposed new state office building on Milwaukee’s Near West Side, a group championing the project says it still backs the proposal.

State officials have long eyed a replacement to the existing downtown Milwaukee office building at 819 N. Sixth St. A new office building, proposed for the southwest corner of 27th Street and Wisconsin Avenue, would also consolidate other offices in the area.

The project had the strong backing of the business community. Advocacy efforts were led by Near West Side Partners Inc., a nonprofit group that aims to revitalize the Milwaukee neighborhood.

NWSP previously said the office building would “serve as a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization.”

Keith Stanley, executive director of NWSP, said his group remains committed to the project.

“The state has been, and will continue to be, a catalytic partner in the Near West Side,” he said. “We look forward to working with the state on their investment in the land at 27th and Wisconsin, and remain committed to bringing a new state office building to that site in the future. The Milwaukee State Office Building will be a significant milestone in the catalytic development occurring in the Near West Side, presenting the opportunity to bring jobs, continued investment and further economic development to our community.” n