The new awning over Rosie’s Beauty Salon is the first sign owner Rosalia Navarrete has invested in after five years at 3505 W. National Ave. and nine years in business.
The hot pink logo, address and telephone number on the black awning now helps new customers find the salon, and it gets lots of compliments, Navarrete said.
VIA Community Development Corp. is working with business owners like Navarrete and residents along National Avenue in Silver City to make the corridor more cohesive and update storefronts to prepare for an upcoming road reconstruction project starting next year.
“We just really care about making sure that our neighbors are aware about what is happening and that they are able to ask the questions that they have,” said Brisa Van Galen, economic development director at VIA CDC.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation and the City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works are planning a three-year project to rebuild 2.6 miles of West National Avenue, or WIS 59, between 1st and 39th streets.
The first phase of the National Avenue reconstruction will start in spring 2026 between 27th and 39th streets.
As part of a grant with VIA and the city, two businesses have installed new signs and four more are approved to have signage or facade work completed.
Clustered storefront improvement grant
Through a partnership with VIA and the Department of City Development’s Commercial Corridors team, businesses on National Avenue between 31st and 38th streets have been able to apply for a grant to reimburse 90% of the cost to update their storefront’s exterior with new signage, doors, windows, awnings, decals or lighting.
After approving applications for projects under $20,000, the city reimburses 75% of the cost and VIA reimburses 15%, leaving the business to cover 10%. The city’s commercial revitalization grants usually cover 50% or less of a project’s cost.
Since Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s office created the Adopt a Neighborhood initiative in Silver City in 2024, the Department of City Development wanted to be intentional and creative in showing support for VIA CDC, according to Jessica Sanchez, neighborhood business development specialist on the Commercial Corridors Team.
Navarrete, who speaks Spanish, had wanted to make eye-catching improvements to her salon and ultimately decided to get the $5,000 awning because of the support through the grant.
“Without the program, she wouldn’t have made the investment now. She would’ve waited until further down the line until she had a little more . . . , to make that kind of investment,” Van Galen said, interpreting for Navarrete.
The program is no longer accepting applications but will reopen if and when funding becomes available again, Sanchez said.
Replacing old signs
VIA initially developed the grant proposal to remove old signs that are no longer in use, Van Galen said, like the beer sign that had been hanging outside of SunRise Nutrition, 3700 W. National Ave.
“We used to get a lot of under-the-influence people coming in here . . . they confused us with a bar,” said Ana Padilla, who works at SunRise Nutrition.
Owned by Maria Hernandez, Padilla’s mother, SunRise Nutrition provides healthy breakfast items, energizing drinks and protein shakes with Herbalife products, which Hernandez has been selling for 15 years.
The business also hosts health and fitness classes like yoga and Zuumba in the evenings.
Hernandez and Padilla applied for the grant and worked with Silver Leaf Signs & Graphics to remove the old sign, install a new circular sign with exterior lighting and add decals on the windows of menu items for a total cost of around $3,000.
Since the changes were made in December, they haven’t had any customers looking for a bar, Padilla said.
Hernandez said that although SunRise Nutrition has regular clients in the Hispanic community, the new signage has helped bring in new customers from different cultures and parts of the city.
“She feels happy because we’ve got new people (to) come in, and now they can see who we are and what we do,” Padilla said.
Some construction concerns
As the neighborhood prepares for the reconstruction project, VIA is helping with language interpretation, working on parking plans and an accessibility ramp and installing benches featuring art by local artists near bus stops.
During construction, one direction of traffic will remain open and the other lane will be closed to maintain some street parking, according to a Department of Public Works presentation in April at a meeting hosted by VIA CDC at PK Palace, 3730 W. National Ave.
Both Navarrete and Hernandez said they are concerned that clients may choose to go to another business that is less of a pain to get to or more accessible once construction starts.
However, they are prepared to work with VIA and neighbors to support each other.
“What’s fun is that we try to help each other because we know Rosie and they come here and we’ll be there,” Padilla said.
Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
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