Port of Milwaukee

Wild Space Dance’s ‘Map of Memories’ sheds light on a disbanded Milwaukee community

Map of Memories is not only an enthralling 90-minute kinetic display of beautiful sinewy human motion but also a local history lesson. A performance event features a fascinating pre-show talk by Milwaukee Historian John Gurda about the origins of Jones Island, its inhabitants, and its eventual change into its support for modern industry.

Committee Approves Two-way State St.

Clearly this meeting of the Public Works Committee was not as colorful as recent meetings but there were a couple of items of interest. The first item was a proposed lease agreement between Waters’ New Biotech Company and the Port of Milwaukee.  This proposal would be the second large alternative fuel facility in recent years to open at the Port of Milwaukee.  Waters’ New Biotech Company intends to develop a facility that will convert wood waste into a solid fuel which will be used as an alternative fuel to coal.  This file was approved and will now go before the full Common Council. The second item was the culmination of three years of efforts by Alderman Robert Bauman.  In an effort to improve the walkability and vibrancy of East Town, he has been working to convert E. State St. between N. Edison St. and N. Prospect Ave. to two-way traffic.  His efforts resulted in the necessary changes to file number 081667 which will provide the funding to reconfigure E. State St., rebuild and repave the street, reconfigure the signals, construct a median at Water St., and potentially add a new signal.  This file was approved and will now go before the full Common Council.

Lake Express Ferry Back In Action

The Lake Express ferry has returned to Lake Michigan in preparation for the first voyage of the season on May 1st. When the ferry was put in its winter berth, the folks at Lake Express created an excellent video of the boat's journey from the port up to the berth in the Menomonee Valley. Well it's not quite as amazing as the original video, they produced another one of the recent reverse trip. Enjoy.

Status of Kinnickinnic River Dredging

Abandoned Wreck Originally uploaded by Retinal Fetish Previously, I had mentioned that a Kinnickinnic River Trail is in the works that would link up areas south and west of the Port of Milwaukee that don’t have good non-car access to downtown and the rest of urban Milwaukee. A key part of making that trail more attractive is the dredging of the Kinnickinnic River which would make it cleaner and more appealing for fish and trail-users alike. The dredging will ultimately help encourage development along the river corridor and hopefully a Riverwalk extension to the area. The deal currently is contingent on the EPA chipping in roughly $2 million from its Great Lakes Legacy Act program to cover the costs of expanding the Army Corps of Engineers’ disposal facility next to the ferry terminal. The Port of Milwaukee is set to pick up the remaining 35 percent of the costs to expand the facility. If the EPA doesn’t pick up the expansion costs, the deal is supposedly dead in the water. My bets are on it happening, one way or another. I’m looking forward to a cleaner Kinnickinnic already.

New Home for Lord?

Lord has been looking at the old Lou Fritzel building with owner Peter J. Kondos.

Dem Challenge for Panzer Seat

The disarray of the Republican 20th Senate District has convinced the Democratic Party to field a write-in candidate for primary.

Changes at the Election Commission