After seven years of debate, reports, and discussion, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors indicating Tuesday it’s time to make a decision on the future of the Mitchell Park Domes.
Speaking at a meeting of the Committee on Parks and Culture, several board members emphasized their growing frustrations that a plan has taken so long to come together.
“I think what you’re hearing loud and clear, is there’s a frustration among us committee members” said District Three Supervisor and Parks and Culture committee chair Sheldon Wasserman, citing the seven years its been since the Domes Task Force was created to evaluate the next steps to preserving the structures in 2016. “We want to move on past this, we don’t want to deal with domes and Mitchell Park. We want a solution done before the end of this term is over with, so we never have to deal with this again.
District 17 Supervisor Steve Taylor echoing these thoughts, bluntly stating “It’s time to s— or get off the pot” when referencing the money given to start the Task Force and the time it’s taken to come up with a solution.
The Domes Task Force put forth a restoration plan in 2019 that was not ultimately adopted by the County Board. An attempt at allocating a 19 million dollar portion of the county’s ARPA funds to the domes’ restoration was also rejected.
The options on the table: repair, replace, or demolish, were determined by the County Board last December. A fourth option, presented by Milwaukee County Parks deputy director Jim Tarantino, would create a new urban botanical park and conservatory in Mitchell Park. It’s estimated the cost of repairing the Domes would be anywhere between 20 and 60 million dollars.
Wasserman said at Tuesday’s meeting the goal is to share a comprehensive plan for the domes, along with more concrete cost estimates, at the board’s September 12th meeting.
“Be prepared for decisions to be made” Wasserman said. “Won’t probably be THAT day, but…we’re going to start dealing with this and our goal is to get this thing done.”
