Milwaukee Public Museum juggling many tasks ahead of expected spring groundbreaking

From the Article:

Whether it's navigating the construction design phase, cataloguing the 4 million artifacts or raising the necessary funds to break ground, the Milwaukee Public Museum is managing multiple elements to its $240 million Wisconsin Wonders campaign for a new museum in Milwaukee's historic Haymarket Square near Fiserv Forum.

The Milwaukee Public Museum adjusted its timeline to begin breaking ground in the spring, with an opening date at the beginning of 2027. That was an adjustment of about a quarter, with the previous timeline being breaking ground before the end of 2023 and opening in late 2026.

Chief planning officer Katie Sanders said this was a fairly insignificant adjustment and one that is not uncommon with major construction projects.

In order to break ground this spring, the museum also has to secure additional funding, which senior vice president of development Julie Quinlan Brame expressed confidence in doing. Quinlan Brame said to date, the museum has achieved every fundraising campaign milestone and has raised $151 million of its $240 million total.

She added that the museum has about $70 million in private donations and has a goal of securing $105 million in private donations to break ground, meaning the museum needs to raise about an additional $35 million before its spring deadline.

"Right now, we’re really focused on helping donors name the galleries and exhibit halls in order to help honor someone they care about," Quinlan Brame said.

The Milwaukee Public Museum also is creating benefits packages for corporations interested in donating, which includes special dates for employees to come see the new museum on early preview dates.

Milwaukee Public Museum president and CEO Ellen Censky also told the Milwaukee County Board during a recent meeting that the museum has about $120 million in asks to potential donors. She gave the comparison that in 2022, the museum secured $22 million in gifts from these types of requests and anticipates the same in the 2023 giving year.

Sanders said current work for the new museum includes the construction design phase, which documents specific details of all the exhibits and every part of the building down to how tall an exhibit case has to be so that all viewers can see it or which artifacts are placed into which exhibit cases to tell a story.

"We’re starting to see exactly which collections are going to be placed where and which ones will rotate," Sanders said.

At the new museum site, there is minimal work that needs to be done ahead of the anticipated spring groundbreaking. Sanders said some utility poles have to be removed as well as a bit of foundation wall and some alleyway. She anticipates activity on the site for the next four to six weeks before a quiet period ahead of the groundbreaking.

The museum's curatorial staff also is in the process of cataloguing, barcoding and preparing the 4 million artifacts that are part of Milwaukee County's collection that will be moved into the new museum. The museum is working on securing an offsite storage facility for objects that won't immediately be on display in the new museum.