Once a Milwaukee icon, the horticultural oasis is barely being promoted to tourists.
Once a Milwaukee icon, the horticultural oasis is barely being promoted to tourists. Back to the full article.
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Hi, Virginia. I always enjoy reading your pieces, this one included. You are frequently the evenhanded, informed eye of a sometimes stage-3 hurricane of Urban Milwaukee comments.
That said, you ask a lot of questions in this piece. I’m curious to know what you think about these developments, especially about the County-proposed options you mention. Is a new botanical garden at a different location viable? Fundable? Advisable? (As an aside, I have noticed that others who write Op-Ed pieces on Urban Milwaukee sometimes ask more questions than offer opinions. What’s up with that, peeps? If you believe it, say it.)
My personal opinion is that, while I enjoyed the Domes as a youth in Milwaukee, they may have moved beyond their useful life. (I say this not knowing how popular they still are or the extent of their economic or social impact on the neighborhood.) While I wouldn’t go as far as to claim, as Tom Bamberger did recently, that the Domes are not domes (!), What is the real cost-benefit analysis of their future use?
Cheers!
Demoted from authentic Conservatory status years ago, the Domes can be viable as an winter indoor playground. Why not keep them for that? Music series was canceled, and after all that the lighting glam was added?
I was surprised to find out that events at the Domes were solely Milw. Co. Parks’ funded – like the “Germany Under Glass” program that I participated in. I remember that the ticketed event appeared to be well attended, but maybe most attendees were comp.’d in.
Is it possible that the State Fair Park org. has influenced shutting down event activity and promotion at the Domes?
It wouldn’t surprise me with the history of battles between fiefdoms within Milwaukee County.
Demolish and rebuild something bigger and better. I enjoy going to the domes but they’re tiny. Time for a 21st century upgrade.
Thanks for the kind words, Midnight Son. I will address your questions as best and briefly as I can.
“Is a new botanical garden at a different location viable? Fundable? Advisable?” Each question raises complex issues without easy answers. Just asking pertinent questions is crucial at this juncture. The Domes are not just a unique landmark with big maintenance needs. I have previously analyzed reasons people love the Domes and consider them significant—and hurdles to preserving them. Of course, not everyone values them equally but I hope discussions will seriously address more than just quantifiable fiscal “cost-benefit” data. Harder-to-measure community values and public-health benefits are equally relevant (and some experts do quantify such factors). Milwaukee County citizens—not just public officials—will have to decide if the Domes, and what they provide, are worth preserving. Communities only preserve what they value. If not, I seriously doubt whether the county would invest in a new conservatory when deferred parks maintenance totals hundreds of millions.
Nearly all major American cities have at least one botanical garden within the city proper, many with a horticultural conservatory. Many, if not most, are public. For example, Chicago has two Victorian conservatories (in Garfield and Lincoln parks), the Lurie Garden in Millennium Park, and the University of Chicago Botanic Garden–all in the city. Additionally, the newer Chicago Botanic Garden in suburban Glencoe is a renowned horticultural center with excellent public-transit access, free admission (and paid parking). Cincinnati, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Detroit and Madison all have publicly owned urban glasshouses (and the list goes on). Conservatories provide an uplifting “immersive” experience, beyond being educational resources and public spaces.
Proposals to demolish the Domes and not rebuild a plant conservatory in Mitchell Park involve complex “environmental justice,” economic and quality-of-life issues–for a metro area struggling to address deep-seated inequities. Public amenities are not like business campuses–where all operations can—or should—be “consolidated for efficiency.” I grew up near Boerner and value it—but it’s a car-dependent suburban destination.
“Useful life,” an accounting term, is not germane here. According to Investopedia, “The useful life of an asset is an estimate of the number of years an asset is likely to remain in service for the purpose of cost-effective revenue generation. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employs useful life estimates to determine the amount of time during which an asset can be depreciated.” The Business Dictionary defines “useful life” as the “Period during which an asset or property is expected to be usable for the purpose it was acquired. It may or may not correspond with the item’s actual physical life or economic life.”
It’s become common in Milwaukee to conflate this accounting term when proposing demolition of public assets, including historic landmarks that could be repaired and remain functional. Furnaces, cars and many other machines inevitably must be replaced. However, buildings frequently remain in use for hundreds of years, if valued and maintained. Also, while some park amenities generate revenue that’s not the purpose of parks.
The Domes exemplify Milwaukee County’s challenges in addressing some big civic issues. They were built in an era of optimism and there’s much more defeatism now. Milwaukee has not yet engaged much in what’s being called a national “renaissance of public spaces” so it’s hard to predict how this process will go.
Gary, all Domes events are NOT funded by Milwaukee County Parks. “Music Under Glass” was a Parks-hosted event but also had major sponsors. Last season Friends of the Domes underwrote all band fees. As for “Germany Under Glass,” a 2015 county press release called it “a family-friendly celebration of German culture…presented by German-American Societies and various German clubs of Milwaukee, in partnership with the Milwaukee County Parks.”
Other entities sometimes rent park facilities, including the Domes, to host public events with or without an “official” partnership with County Parks. As for concerts in the parks, many are underwritten by friends groups or others who sponsor them “in partnership with Parks,” which promotes all the summer series under one banner.
One more thing about Visit Milwaukee’s Official Visitors Guide. A busy ad titled “Golf & Gardens in the Park” jointly features “15 Golf Courses and 5 FootGolf Courses,” along with Boerner Botanical Gardens, Wehr Nature Center and the Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory. Milwaukee County Zoo and the Milwaukee Public Museum each have prominent single-subject ads.
Thank you, Virginia. You do not disappoint! 🙂
Virginia,
Something in your piece reminded me of a book review I saw recently in the Financial Times entitled
“How to encourage children to love plants — and why”
“A new illustrated books aims to show young people how important botanical science is to their lives and their future”
Within the review there is a quote:
“As director of science at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in west London, my mission — and my passion — is to make people understand how important plants are to their lives and their future.”
https://www.ft.com/content/ea315f76-80e1-11e6-8e50-8ec15fb462f4
This review alluded to the fact that it is easier to interest children in animals than plants…..
My husband and I are friends of the Domes. We go there especially in winter. We took my now deceased elderly mother there. Invariably we see families, grandparents with grandchildren, young couples, out of town visitors, and people who look like they probably can’t afford to go south for a mid-winter vacation……I suspect that those who want to demolish the Domes may not be thinking about kids from the south side may not otherwise get to see exotic tropical plants or a desert……
The seasonal shows are a delight. The Domes are priceless. They are a good investment in civic quality of life for people of limited means in particular….
Thank you for your very thoughtful and thorough editorial. I participated in the survey that you referenced in your editorial but have not heard anything about the results of that survey. Have you seen the results?
I don’t understand why the Domes haven’t been promoted, although you submitted your thoughts on this. When we’ve traveled to othe cities we often found that they’ve promoted their conservatories and gardens prominently of which we try to visit. Hopefully Milwaukee County will make the necessary efforts to do a better job.
As usual, Virginia Small has posted an excellent exposition-critique ifrom historic, geographjic, and social/moral perspectives. Her treatment of the idea of “useful life” is needed and on the mark. Likewise her comparison of amenities serving the public and those of private business campuses.
Ms. Small’s mention of the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago is instructive and relevant to Milwaukee. That conservatory’s physical; condition had deteriorated tremendously from its glory days, and it was/is in a less-than-pedestrian-friendly, none-too-safe area. Nevertheless, the city, with popular support, restored not only the building and its contents, but, eventually,after rebuilding the old Green Line elevated (the old Lake Street “l”) merged two former “L” stations into a new Garfield Park elevated station, with a head house mimicking the architecture of the original stations from the 1890’s and early 1900’s, albeit with the addition of ADA-compliant elevators. The Conservatory has regained its status as a tourist attraction and is now mentioned in numerous guidebooks.
Yes, the tax base of the City of Chicago dwarfs that of Milwaukee County
Given the scarcity of funds for park maintenance, including the Lake Park concrete-arch bridge, it is hard to imagine that funding for a new conservatory would be available, so that listing of replacement of the Domes with another facility of similar purpose does not seem to be a serious option. A full restoration, perhaps with updating or revision of exhibitions,if the consensus desires this, could be done with a strong fundraising effort, seeking large naming gifts from individuals and corporations, as well as smaller individual contributions (named pavement bricks are useful in attracting these smaller donations). Raising money for a new facility is far more problematic without a significant contribution from the County, which would not seem to be in the cards. Restoration would seem to be more feasible. Letting a civic asset with a substantial constituency–and many benefits to the community- decay by treating it with non-benign neglect, allowing it to deteriorate to the extent that demolition without replacement is the inevitable result.should not be among the options available for the future of The Domes.
Doug, Results of the Domes survey have not yet been released and the survey still seems active for anyone who wants to complete it. http://county.milwaukee.gov/DomesSurvey
Results will be eventually be reported to the Domes Task Force. The agenda and reports for the 11/30 public meeting are posted here. https://milwaukeecounty.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
Mary, thanks for the link. A great book about children and nature is Richard Louv’s “Last Child in the Woods,” in which he talks about “Nature Deficit Disorder.”
PG1946: That’s heartening about Garfield Park and its neighborhood. I suspect you know that pioneering landscape architect Jens Jensen, “father of the Chicago Parks,” designed the Garfield conservatory as well as the park. Jensen was later Frank Lloyd Wright’s frequent collaborator and founded The Clearing, a “school of the soil” still based in Door County where Jensen retired.
More input on the Domes found here:
http://milwaukeerecord.com/city-life/second-meeting-domes-task-force-figure-out-what-supposed-to-be-doing/
and here:
http://milwaukeerecord.com/music/blinked-recently-all-happening-domes-this-week/
This is real sad to let these go to hell. We have been there many times and taken many people there. They are poorly promoted like the Pabst was for years, Govt. employees are poor promoters.
Why would the community invest in another horticultural site when the County does not maintain what it has (with regard to the entire park system)? Perhaps the County should shift its vision to a park system that requires a lower level of maintenance and seek greater financial support through very active friends groups. For example, replacing grass that requires frequent mowing with no mow grass in appropriate areas. With the current funding problems, we need to rethink what we have and how we can have parks we can maintain.
Another of Milwaukee County’s properties has been demoted. I’m thinking of the Milwaukee County Historical Society building at N. 3rd and W. Kilbourn Ave. which now functions as an old fashioned wedding hall (+ library).
At the Domes, you could have 3 weddings going simultaneously.
(I’ve previously posted suggestions for renaming rights/sponsorship: Johnson Controls Corp., McDonald’s or Chuck E. Cheese franchisee, or a hip rock climbing outfit.)