County Plans to Move Kelly Senior Center

Heritage building with improvement. Image from Continuum Architects + Planners, S.C.

Milwaukee County is proposing moving the Kelly Senior Center out of Warnimont Park and into the Heritage building on the former Bucyrus Erie industrial campus.

The project is in the early stages, according to a statement from County Executive David Crowley‘s office, but it involves moving the senior center to a new 22,000 square-foot space, which is considerably larger than the existing senior center, into first-floor commercial space at The Heritage building, 1100 Milwaukee Ave., in South Milwaukee. The new center will provide a “dramatic aesthetic, physical space, and programmatic improvements,” according to the announcement.

Developer Scott Crawford Inc. is working on a $50 million redevelopment of The Heritage building. The mixed-use project includes 141 new rental units, with 81 affordable apartments for residents making $15 an hour or less and eight units for veterans making less than 60% of the area median income. Milwaukee County provided $3 million in gap financing for the project in 2024.

The existing senior center includes two separate buildings, constructed in the 1950s, and located on the southern end of Warnimont Park in Cudahy. They were originally a military barracks until 1972.

The two buildings need an estimated $2.5 million in maintenance, and officials have not only expressed, but recently begun to act on concerns about the county’s ability to pay for ongoing maintenance at its five senior centers. County officials in the Crowley administration and on the county board are moving to hold off on investing in senior centers until the two branches of government can come together and agree on a strategy for preserving senior centers.

The county has a massive backlog of infrastructure needs, estimated at approximately $1 billion over the next five years. Meanwhile, operating budgets are growing tighter in the face of massive budget deficit projections. It’s estimated policymakers will have to close a $46.7 million budget deficit for 2026, and the plan to do this involves across-the-board spending cuts.

“As Milwaukee County’s aging population continues to grow, we must advance creative solutions to ensure our older adults have vibrant, accessible spaces with exceptional programming and amenities,” Crowley said in a statement. “The Bucyrus-Erie site realizes that vision by doubling the space of the existing Kelly Senior Center, bringing this important amenity closer to affordable housing options, and allowing us to expand programming to better serve residents by creating a lively gathering space for members of the community.”

The Crowley administration tried to connect senior centers and affordable housing earlier this year with a proposal for a new McGovern Park Senior Center. The administration worked with Jewish Family Services (JFS) on a project that would have built a brand new mixed-use building with a senior center on the first floor and 30 to 55 units of affordable senior housing on the floors above. JFS would have financed the project at no cost to the county taxpayer. The county board voted to reject the proposal, with most supervisors opposing the development of housing, even affordable senior housing, on county park land.

In the wake of the McGovern vote, the future of county senior centers was cast into greater uncertainty. The Crowley administration came away thinking it had a different understanding of the buildings, and the county’s ability to pay for them, than the board.

Kelly Senior Center is one of the last remaining senior centers on the county’s south shore, according to a report by James Mathy, housing administrator for the county’s Department of Health and Human Services. The South Shore YMCA in Cudahy and the Chester Grobschmidt Senior Center in South Milwaukee have both closed in recent years.

As a result, according to the report by Mathy, more seniors are going to Kelly and the building is running out of space. It’s also aging and outdated. The exercise room, for example, has asbestos tile.

The proposed new senior center would be built out based on conceptual ideas for future senior centers created by the Commission on Aging in its 2024 report titled MKE HUBS. The commissioners envisioned modern senior centers, with new amenities and programmatic offerings, potentially co-located in mixed-use buildings.

“As a volunteer appointed to the Milwaukee County Commission on Aging and the Commission’s current chair, I’ve been part of the effort to reimagine senior centers,” said Jan Wilberg. “This new center at the Bucyrus site holds such amazing potential for both current users of Kelly and for the next generation of older adults. It’s the reimagining that we’ve been pushing for and it’s great to see this moving forward.”

The county estimates it would cost approximately $1.1 million to build out a new senior center in The Heritage building. The City of South Milwaukee has pledged $500,000 in tax incremental financing for the project, the county plans to commit $160,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds and the developer has agreed to support the project with additional investment.

“It has been a priority for the City of South Milwaukee to partner with Milwaukee County and create a long-term South Shore solution for senior citizen programming,” said South Milwaukee Mayor Jim Shelenske. “It’s amazing to see new life breathed into this historic location, and we are pleased to contribute to this project.”

The county would sign a 25-year lease for the space at $381,474, according to the report.

The county board will vote on various elements of the project in the coming months. Sup. Steven Shea, who represents the area on the county board, told Urban Milwaukee he wishes the senior center could remain in Cudahy, but that he understands the county’s financial challenges are driving the project.

“For a financial move, it’s probably a good move for Milwaukee County,” Shea said.

The proposed new site in South Milwaukee is already built and currently being redeveloped, which will make building out a senior center there cheaper than starting over somewhere else, he noted.

“I’m not so much for it as, I think this is going to happen even if I’m against it,” Shea said. “Because, as I said, Milwaukee County is so desperate for money right now, the fact that we even have senior centers is a good thing. And if they think this is going to save us money that’s a good thing.”