Two Big Riverwalk Beer Gardens Planned

The Milwaukee RiverWalk could be home to two new beer gardens this summer as part of two proposals making their way through various city committees.

After a false start last year, Nick Marking has found a new location for his The Tap Yard concept. The 9,500-square-foot, outdoor beer garden would be created atop a surface parking lot at Schlitz Park.

A shipping container bar with 36 tap lines would serve the drinks and approximately 40 picnic tables would form the seating area. It would be located near the pump house structure, in line with the front door of the Rivercenter Building, 1505 N. Rivercenter Dr. “We intend to fence this off with nice stained wood and bourbon barrels,” said Marking to members of the City Plan Commission afternoon.

Marking planned to open The Tap Yard last year at a parking lot a few blocks south at 1301 N. Edison St. But after setting it up, the adjacent Water Street bar district was regularly inundated with illegal activity and The Tap Yard never was open with regular hours.

“The Schlitz Park ownership approached us and they were very much interested in activating the parking lot,” said Marking. He told the commission the Schlitz Park office complex has a very precise 3,777 parking spaces and doesn’t need all of them. Marking’s target is office workers and nearby residents as well as those seeking a beer garden atmosphere and good beer menu.

The entrepreneur hopes to open The Tap Yard, a complement to his existing Waukesha business, in May. It would open through October on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., Saturdays from noon until 9 p.m. and Sundays from noon until 7 p.m. Space for food trucks would be included.

Lakefront’s Plans

A quarter-mile upstream, Lakefront Brewery and its owner Russ Klisch have been planning a substantial overhaul of its outdoor space that started as something much smaller: replacing an old exterior staircase from when the brewery, 1872 N. Commerce St., was a power plant.

“Russ has been waiting to deal with this some years,” said Chris Socha, The Kubala Washatko Architects partner. The proposal calls for a new staircase, outdoor deck, permanent bathrooms, sheltered bar and seating along the riverwalk.

“We are using a material palette that is really going to play off the palette of the building itself,” said Socha. A lot of steel fixtures will contrast the Cream City brick building.

The new bar, enclosed in a shipping container-like structure, will be under the Holton Street Viaduct and near the Marsupial Bridge. Seating areas, a mix of picnic tables and a railing along the river, will span both sides of the riverwalk. Bathrooms will be added under the new stairs, replacing portable toilets. The current bar, the former Bernie’s Chalet from Milwaukee County Stadium, will be repurposed.

After raising concerns about wheelchair accessibility and the positioning of certain drink railings, the City Plan Commission unanimously endorsed both proposals.

The two projects require only Plan Commission approval, not that of the Common Council, because they are within the riverwalk overlay zone. The Tap Yard proposal still needs a separate liquor license to be approved.