Lipscomb Proposes Funds for Domes Preservation

MILWAUKEE – County Board Chairman Theodore Lipscomb, Sr., is calling for funding the ongoing development of a plan to restore the Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory Domes with an amendment to the 2020 Milwaukee County budget.

Lipscomb’s amendment, co-sponsored by Supervisor Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, proposes setting aside about $108,000 for further development of a long-term plan to repair and preserve the Domes and revitalize Mitchell Park.

The Finance and Audit – Budget Committee voted (6-1) today to recommend Lipscomb’s amendment to the full Board.

“The Domes are a beloved cultural institution that we have made a commitment to repair and preserve,” said Lipscomb. “It is important that we continue to make real progress at the Domes in 2020.”

The Domes Task Force recommended a plan for the Domes restoration in August and posed a set of questions to the county’s lawyers regarding the plan’s feasibility and implementation.

The Finance and Audit Committee is expected to consider Corporation Counsel’s responses to those questions, as well as a proposal to set aside an additional $50,000 to undertake financial due diligence requests related to the recommended long-term plan, at its November meeting.

The public is invited to weigh in on the 2020 Milwaukee County budget at the County Board’s annual public hearing on November 4 at 6:00 p.m.

Final consideration of all proposed budget amendments will take place at the County Board’s budget adoption meeting on November 12 at 9:30 a.m.