Public Museum Raises $212 Million for New Home

Rendering of new museum viewed from the west side of N. 6th St. Rendering by Kahler Slater.

The Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) has raised more than $212 million for the new museum being constructed at the corner of N. 6th Street and W. McKinley Avenue.

MPM Executive Director Ellen Censky announced the new fundraising figure during a meeting Tuesday of the Milwaukee County Board’s Committee on Parks and Culture, adding that 47 donors have provided gifts of $1 million or more.

“So we have seen strong support from major donors and public partners, and the momentum continues to build,” Censky said.

The total project is estimated to cost about $240 million. Fundraising began with $40 million from the state and a $45 million commitment from Milwaukee County. While MPM has made progress toward the final figure, Censky told supervisors that inflation since the project started has pushed project costs up about 6%.

“However, I will say, based on our contract with you, we will not be coming back to the county for that,” Censky said.

“Correct answer,” Sup. Sheldon Wasserman, chair of the parks committee, replied. “First of all, congratulations. It’s a spectacular number. There were quite a few doubters out there.”

The museum has raised most of the original $150 million private fundraising goal. Since breaking ground nearly two years ago, the MPM has raised $127 million in private donations. The original project budget was based on $200 million for the building, $20 million for an endowment and the rest for packing and moving the museum’s 4 million collection items.

The museum will launch the final phase of its fundraising campaign this fall, focusing on soliciting small donations from the public.

The new museum going up at 1310 N. 6th St. will be called the Nature and Culture Museum of Wisconsin. Construction on the five-story, 200,000-square-foot facility is expected to finish in time for the museum to open in 2027. It will replace the existing public museum at 800 W. Wells St. in downtown Milwaukee.

MPM started pursuing a new museum a decade ago as mounting maintenance costs at the existing museum, constructed in 1962, began threatening the safety of the collections stored there. As the new museum is constructed, the county has started planning for an empty museum on Wells Street. The current recommendation is to demolish the 451,000-square-foot complex and make the site available for mixed-use redevelopment.

Before that occurs, however, there will be an opportunity for local organizations and members of the public to bid on museum items that are not part of the collections moving to the new museum. They include props built by county employees and furniture in the museum, Censky said.

The MPM is planning to first make these items available to any county departments or affiliated organizations that can use them. After that, these items will be open for acquisition by other museums, then local nonprofits and finally put up for public auction.

Public concern has been raised about whether the museum will get rid of items considered important parts of exhibits by museum patrons. Museum items and structures built into the building are owned by the county. Other noncollection items — Censky used the example of fake fruit used in an exhibit — are owned by MPM. “Collections are all going to the new museum,” she noted.

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