Public Museum Raises $105 Million Private Donations for New Home

Milwaukee Public Museum future museum construction. Photo taken Dec. 19, 2024 by Graham Kilmer.

The Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) has raised $105 million in private donations for the new museum project.

This is the latest figure to be released since the fundraising campaign launched. In December, MPM President and CEO Ellen Censky said the campaign had raised approximately 75% of the total $240 million project cost. Now, with a fundraising total of $191 million, MPM has raised approximately 80% of the project cost. The fundraising figure includes $40 million from the state of Wisconsin and $45 million from Milwaukee County.

Construction of the new museum is well underway and exterior construction is expected to finish by 2025, according to a statements released by MPM Thursday.

Once complete, the 200,000-square-foot structure will stand five stories tall above the intersection of N. 6th St. and W. McKinley Ave. The $240 million project is creating a new home for the museum, which has occupied a sprawling building at 800 W. Wells St. — near the courthouse and the Milwaukee Central Library — since 1962.

Construction began in June 2023 and by late 2023 the foundation was built and the footings were in place. Now it’s reported that the concrete shell of the first two stories has been poured.

The concrete exterior was designed to resemble the bluffs found in western Wisconsin. On the inside, the floor plan is designed to resemble the three main three rivers that create the Milwaukee estuary: Menomonee, Milwaukee and Kinnickinnic.

New York-based Ennead Architects and Milwaukee-based Kahler Slater are leading the design of the new facility. Construction is being led by Mortenson and ALLCON, with the help of more than 30 subcontractors from southeastern Wisconsin. Another 40 Wisconsin-based contractors are working on design, administration and the packing of four million objects in the museum collections.

“Throughout our 142-year history and in each of our three locations, the Museum has always been uplifted by the work of Wisconsinites – from the community members who have influenced exhibit creation to the scientists who gathered collections items across the state and the researchers here at MPM and Wisconsin universities who continue to generate new knowledge from the artifacts and specimens in our care,” Censky said. “As the future home of this institution is constructed, MPM is proud to continue that legacy of local connection and Wisconsin pride, while also supporting the state’s economy through job creation and support for local businesses and tradespeople.”

The new museum will have “state-of-the-art mechanical systems” regulating temperature and humidity to the needs of exhibits, according to MPM. These systems are being installed by BelongGru, a contractor formed in a partnership by Grunaru and Belonger.

The new museum will have a number of new and updated exhibits, like a new immersive Milwaukee streetscape replacing what is the Streets of Old Milwaukee at the current museum, and a reimagined Rainforest Gallery and Butterfly Vivarium.

Construction is expected to be finished by the end of 2026, and the museum is expected to open in 2027.

Update: This story has been updated to state that the fundraising percentage Censky offered in December was a reference to the entire project cost, not simply the private donations.

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