Historic Milwaukee, Inc. Presents: What is Historic?! Historic preservation and designation under municipal landmark ordinances.

Panelists

Paul Jakubovich – Preservation Planner with the City of Milwaukee
Alderman Robert Bauman – Member of the Historic Preservation Commission
Jim Draeger – Architectural Historian, Wisconsin Historical Society
Mike D’Amato – Former Alderman and Member of the Historic Preservation Commission

Moderated by Award Winning Real Estate Attorney Bruce Block

6PM Cocktail Hour – Limited Reservations
Meet the Panelists, Heavy hors d’oeuvres, Open bar, Dazzling View
7PM Panel Discussion
8PM Audience Questions

Prices for Panel Discussions
$10 ea. for HMI, FUEL, Next Gen. Members / $25 for series
$15 ea. for Non Members / $40 for series
$7 ea. for University Student

Prices for Cocktail Hour
$15 ea. for HMI, FUEL, Next Gen. Members / $40 for series
$20 ea. for Non Members / $55 for series

Location: 1000 North Water St., 21st floor
All discussions begin at 7PM and are preceded by an optional 6PM Cocktail Hour (admission sold separately)
Enjoy dazzling views with an open bar and heavy hor d’oeuvres. Meet and mingle with the panelists. Reservations Limited!

http://www.historicmilwaukee.org/ToursAndEvents/SpecialEvents

Milwaukee has an unquestionably rich ethnic history that has been at the center of the cities identity ever since Juneau, Walker, and Kilbourn decided to merge their towns together in 1846.  There is a festival and slice of history for everyone in Milwaukee. In the past ten years something has changed in Milwaukee. Spain has emerged to have a number of ties to the city.

The first, and most iconic connection to Spain, is the Quadracci Pavilion expansion at the Milwaukee Art Museum. The building is affectionately known as “the Calatrava” after it’s designer, starchitect Santiago Calatrava. The Milwaukee Art Museum made a statement by selecting an architect not only from out of the state, but out of the country. The finished product was a beautiful building that has certainly become a showpiece for Milwaukee and Wisconsin.

Another connection came this summer after Governor Jim Doyle committed $47 million to purchase train cars from Madrid-based Talgo, a leader in the field of high-speed train set design. The train sets will be used on the Amtrak Hiawatha line from Chicago to Milwaukee (and one could guess will likely be used once the line is extended to Madison). The train sets weren’t the only thing received in the deal, as Talgo will locate a facility in the state for assembly and maintenance. We’ve opined on where we believe the facility should go, and we’ll see if Talgo agrees with an announcement expected soon.

The bold move by the state to agree to purchase the Talgo equipment in August certainly helped increase the odds that the Milwaukee to Madison line was selected for a $823-million high-speed rail development grant from the federal government. That move awards the state money to develop the line, including the purchase of train sets that will be made right here in Wisconsin by Talgo. It will be a great coup for Milwaukee if other high-speed rail corridors select Talgo for their train sets and those train sets can be assembled here, creating jobs and making Wisconsin a significant player in the high-speed rail arena.

The latest connection to Spain for Milwaukee is Monday’s announcement that Ingeteam will locate a manufacturing facility in the Menomonee Valley. The $15 million, 8.1 acre facility should be open by the end of 2010 and will manufacture wind-turbine generators. Milwaukee beat 80 other possible locations as the North American location for Ingeteam.

It’s important to note that none of the ties to Spain have weakened Milwaukee’s identify with other ethnic groups. Old World Third Street still has businesses that consider German history core to their identify, and patrons that will drink to that. Irish Fest, Polish Fest, and the Juneteenth Day Festival will still go off without a hitch. The Bucks will still regularly start five players from four different continents. Rest assured, Milwaukee’s title as “City of Festivals” is safe.

While it’s not like Milwaukee is seeing a wave of immigrants from Spain, it’s safe to think that Milwaukee is more well-regarded in Spain than the average American city. One has to assume Milwaukee is in a much better position going forward to attract increased Spanish investment, be it companies opening facilities or tourists.

So what’s next? What Spanish water company can Milwaukee lure to the Reed Street Yards?

This article was inspired by El Mariachi on SkyscraperCity

Back Alley behind Latitude Apartments

Pizza (Man) Pit

Latitude Apartments from northeast corner of Farwell and Kenilworth

Latitude Apartments

Fame Fudge Factory

The City Plan Commission (CPC) is the City’s official planning body established under State statute and is responsible for master planning activities. The CPC advises the Common Council on a variety of land development issues including zoning map changes, revisions in the zoning ordinance, subdivision approvals, business improvement districts, street and alley vacations, public land disposition and acquisition, new streets and the approval of development plans in certain overlay districts.

City Plan Commission (CPC) meetings are held in the First Floor Boardroom at the Department of City Development, 809 North Broadway, unless otherwise noted.

Agenda

Citywide Policy Plan

Urban Milwaukee’s Upcoming Events & Meetings Calendar should help you keep up to date on important events effecting our neighborhoods, the City of Milwaukee, and our region.

February 8, 2010

Fostering the Creative City

February 8, 2010 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm

The Cultural Alliance is delighted to present Carol Coletta, President of CEOs for Cities, a national cross-sector network of urban leaders dedicated to building and sustaining the next generation of great American cities. Carol will be joined by the Mt Auburn Associate consultant for the Milwaukee Regional Creative Economy Project, Michael Kane.

Carol is a highly [...]

February 10, 2010

Green Drinks

February 10, 2010 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm

Green Drinks is a monthly event where you can meet people, network, do a business deal, learn something new or maybe even find a job! Check out green drinks to get an idea of the scope of this movement!

Join like-minded people in an informal and unstructured setting to talk about the latest sustainability happenings in [...]

February 11, 2010

Love Your Bike Party

February 11, 2010 5:00 pm

Warm up with complementary Fat tire beer and celebrate your admiration of biking with hundreds of other Milwaukee bike lovers at the 2010 Love Your Bike Party! Thank you to Trocadero’s for graciously hosting this year’s bash. More event details coming soon.

Trocadero
1758 N. Water St.

Green Drinks is a monthly event where you can meet people, network, do a business deal, learn something new or maybe even find a job! Check out green drinks to get an idea of the scope of this movement!

Join like-minded people in an informal and unstructured setting to talk about the latest sustainability happenings in Milwaukee and globally. Meet people in various green professions. Have a drink (alcoholic or not), order food (or not), but enjoy lively conversations and good ideas.

Anyone interested in green and sustainability is welcome.  No RSVP is necessary and feel free to pass this notice on to others who might be interested.

Location:

Club Charlies (located between Milwaukee St. and Broadway St. – across from MIAD in the third ward).
320 E. Menomonee, Milwaukee, WI 53202.

The back area of the bar will be reserved for Milwaukee Green Drinks and there is lots of street parking out front.

Latitude

Latitude

Latitude

Jackson Square Apartments

Jackson Square Apartments

Cities in the Midwest will be competing for residents and tourists over the next century.  Unfortunately, it will continue to be difficult for Milwaukee to compete with the likes of Chicago in terms of sheer volume.  So Milwaukee needs to continue working to distinguish itself. Urban design and architecture are the most pragmatic way to accomplish this, as demonstrated by the Milwaukee Art Museum and Miller Park a decade ago.

Milwaukee’s beginnings offer the framework to continue to grow into an aesthetically distinguishable city.  During the genesis of Milwaukee the competitive nature of its founders, Solomon Juneau and Byron Kilbourn, manifested itself in the town’s street layouts.  The streets did not line up on opposite sides of the river.  A walk down Water Street reveals how the competition between Solomon Juneau and Byron Kilbourn created a multiplicity of vistas that can be used to beautify Milwaukee today.  Very few, if any, Midwestern cities have this advantage since the Jeffersonian grid system had wholly encompassed American Urban Planning by the time of any meaningful western expansion, leaving long straight streets with no termination opportunities even in high density areas.

The historic cores of many other Midwestern cities founded concurrently with Milwaukee have for the most part been destroyed.  The great fire of 1871 wiped out the historic core of Chicago where Grant Park exists today.  In St. Louis, the historic core was razed to make way for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (the Gateway Arch) in 1965.  While these new public spaces serve their communities well, the absence of historic cores presents Milwaukee with a great opportunity to showcase its urban fabric and unique block structure.

The fact that the most urban part of Milwaukee is still along the historic core with its many functions and multiple vistas should be studied and implemented in the current and future development of downtown.  The optimal component of beautifying these vistas is that most of the termination points also lie on the Milwaukee River Walk.  Creating a beautiful city, founded on the past looking toward the future, will set a good example for future generations to continue to contribute to the pleasant and sustainable urban environment in Downtown Milwaukee.

Guest post by: Matthew Trussoni

Matthew Trussoni, PhD, PE, RA is currently an Assistant Professor in and an alumnus of the Milwaukee School of Engineering’s Architectural Engineering Department.  After graduating MSOE he attended the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla. where he completed a dual master’s degrees program in the School of Architecture in 2005 earning the degrees of Master of Architecture and Master of Urban Design.  In 2009 he earned his Ph.D. in civil (structural) engineering in the Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Department. His professional experience has encompassed both architecture and engineering as he is a Registered Architect and Professional Engineer in the State of Florida.