Post from the Community: Weigh in on the future of the Domes – Public Hearing September 18, 6pm, Domes Annex | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee County Task Force on Mitchell Park Conservatory
September 12, 2019
Hear about the business plan and conceptual design for re-envisioning the Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory and Mitchell Park for the foreseeable future. The Taskforce has been working to develop a feasible path forward for the Domes and has recommended to the County a new vision for the Domes and Mitchell Park. The Milwaukee County Board will meet on Wednesday, September 18 at 6 pm at the Domes Annex to consider the Taskforce’s recommendation and hear from the public. The next day, the County Board will act on whether to adopt the Plan and implement it.
The Taskforce proposes programming the Domes and Park with changing/touring exhibits, multifaceted education and community programs, activity hubs throughout the Park, a children’s garden, youth and teen apprenticeship and stewardship programs, and adult health and wellness and urban gardens programs. These programs will provide workforce development and job training and certification. They will be significant resources for a response to changes in climate. The historic and nationally significant Domes will be preserved for at least the next 50 years. A new Welcome Center will become a retail, education and research hub. The Mitchell Park boathouse will become an events pavilion. A full-service restaurant with a separate entrance in the transition dome on the north side of the main Domes, food trucks, outdoor and indoor food service and family picnic space will highlight plants as food, and as an aspect of culture. An improved amphitheater, a weddings and events garden, a soccer field, basketball courts and tennis courts will be added. A clean and fresh pond, stream circulation, reflecting pools, and gardens will promote water stewardship best practices.
The Park and Domes will become an economic engine for the neighborhood, a sustainable economic model. It will support 300 quality jobs. Attendance is projected to grow from 180,000 admissions to 300,000 or more over the next decade. People will come more often and stay longer. The plan envisions significant partnerships to accomplish its goals and changes to governance.
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The full report can be seen here.
The Executive Summary of the Taskforce report can be seen here.
The presentation to the taskforce at its August 13th meeting can be seen here.