You wouldn’t quite know it from the press coverage, but Milwaukee is poised for a bloody showdown on the lakefront. And at the center of the dispute is philanthropist Michael Cudahy.
Many will recall that Cudahy, as the major donor to Discovery World, had his favorite architect, Jim McClintock, design the proposed building. Working closely with Cudahy, McClintock created a monstrosity: Not only did the all-white, sail-shaped building look like a cheap knockoff of the Calatrava addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum, but the proposed structure was massive. It would use 154 pilings and cover 678 square feet of lake bottom.
The response from many was horror. Art museum President David Gordon publicly condemned it, while Mayor John Norquist and others tried to quietly change Cudahy’s mind. Meanwhile, the Board of Harbor Commissioners declined to approve the design. Cudahy said he would lose millions on the original design and angrily threatened to kill the project. But he was ultimately persuaded to launch a design competition, which acclaimed Milwaukee architect Jim Shields won, and built the gorgeous Discovery World building we have today.
Well, Cudahy has quietly bided his time, arranging things, it seems, so he can win the battle he lost last time. He has negotiated with the Harbor 550 restaurant (formerly Pieces of Eight) to buy its long-term lease with the city for the land along the lakefront, and is now offering to give the land to UW-Milwaukee for its proposed School of Freshwater Sciences – if the plan to build there wins city support.
The proposed building would be a two-story, 50,000-square-foot structure. And Cudahy, sources tell me, has had McClintock create a design for it. One person who has seen the design is UWM architecture dean Bob Greenstreet. We know this because the Chronicle of Higher Education story I referenced last week leads with a description of Greenstreet being shown the design for a new building on the lakefront right next to the art museum. The design “looks like a series of gas storage tanks” and Greenstreet clearly doesn’t like it, the story suggests. But the “unnamed philanthropist” (that would be Cudahy) likes this design by his “architect friend” (that would be Jim McClintock). So Greenstreet delicately leans on Cudahy to consider a design by Hammel, Green and Abrahamson Inc., whose top architect is none other than Jim Shields – the man Cudahy ended up having to accept over his first choice of McClintock for Discovery World.
Talk about history repeating itself. Cudahy’s last attempt to dictate a design for the lakefront became a battle royal. Now he has the whip hand on what could be a far more notable building. The School of Freshwater Sciences “will become an icon for the community,” promises Greater Milwaukee Committee President Julia Taylor. The GMC, the Milwaukee 7 and business leaders see the proposed school as the anchor for a new economy based on water technology.
Some of these insiders, however, must already be whispering about Cudahy’s intentions, because Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Tom Daykin’s Saturday story had a cryptic reference to worry that the new school “would be ugly.”
Not to worry, Mr. Daykin, Cudahy responded. “I wouldn’t let that happen,” he said (meaning, I guess, sheer ugliness), “because I love this city and I want it to be something we can be proud of.”
Meanwhile, there is an entire other agenda at work. Parks lovers like Preserve Our Parks don’t want a restaurant replaced by some other building, but are insisting the lakefront remain pure green. The group also opposed saving the gorgeous old Coast Guard building. I’m guessing they already got to the Harbor Commission (which once again would have to approve this project) to suggest other locations for the proposed school. As the Daily Reporter’s Sean Ryan has written, Harbor Commissioner Claude Krawczyk suggested three alternatives: vacant land by the Milwaukee Water Works on Lincoln Memorial Dr.; port-owned property around the Lake Express ferry, or port-owned parking lots west of Summerfest.
Of course, if the parks advocates win, and other land is used, Cudahy loses his leverage over the design. If, on the other hand, the location by the art museum gets the go-ahead, the Harbor Commission could still balk at the proposed design. Hey, maybe we could have another design competition to once again replace architect Jim McClintock!
Meanwhile, I’m guessing Bob Greenstreet has lost all credibility with Cudahy. The Chronicle story, which is very sympathetic to Greenstreet, basically describes him as colluding with HGA to try to frustrate Cudahy’s preferred design for the building. Cudahy won’t be happy with either Greenstreet or HGA.
A final note here: My column of last week suggested Greenstreet had greatly exaggerated his impact on architectural politics in Milwaukee. This generated some stinging comments, including one accusing me of borderline slander. More thoughtful was former Historic Third Ward President Einar Tangen, who praised Greenstreet as “the most influential force in downtown development in the modern history of the city.” Tangen notes all the design competitions that Greenstreet has overseen and also suggests developers would praise Greenstreet.
Yes, as UWM’s longtime dean of architecture, Greenstreet has been important, and he has overseen design competitions. But I was really referring to his years as city planner and architect. That performance was roundly panned by developers in a Milwaukee Magazine story by Tom Bamberger, and compared unfavorably to Greenstreet’s predecessor, Peter Park. As to my column last week, my main point was that Greenstreet was exaggerating his role in claiming credit for the Sixth Street Viaduct, Harley-Davidson Museum, Menomonee River Valley revival and many other developments, all of which were led by others. Neither Tangen nor anyone else addressed the point.
Does Doyle Tolerate Puppy Mills?
In January, Senior Editor Mary Van de Kamp Nohl did a harrowing story on puppy mills that described Wisconsin as “the Wild West for puppy mills,” where weak laws and a lack of enforcement allow unscrupulous breeders to raise dogs under the most horrific circumstances. Many are Amish and Mennonite breeders who moved here from Pennsylvania after that state cracked down on puppy mills.
In response to this story, animal activists are pushing for new state laws. Assembly Bill 250, the Smith/Kreitlow Commercial Dog Breeders Licensure bill, has attracted 71 co-sponsors. The legislation is opposed by some hunting and sporting dog groups, who argue the law will somehow be used against them. It is also opposed by dog breeders, who prefer the laxer laws.
Pennsylvania’s reforms would not have happened without the leadership of Gov. Ed Rendell, who pushed for the legislation. So where does Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle stand on this issue? In 2003, he used his partial veto power to effectively repeal a law regulating dog breeders, arguing the state lacked the money to pay for regulation and enforcement of such a law.
Doyle spokesperson Carla Vigue says the governor is really truly opposed to the practices of puppy mills. She says Doyle would sign legislation to regulate the industry – if the bill has enforcement measures and provides funding to pay for state regulators to enforce the law. Given the current budget, that sounds like a polite no – unless dog lovers amass enough support to push legislators to provide funding.
The Buzz:
-There is a new effort to create a third school of medicine to complement the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Milwaukee’s Medical College of Wisconsin. It will be called the Wisconsin College of Osteopathic Medicine and would be located in Milwaukee metro area. A kickoff fundraiser is planned for this August. The effort is a response to the shortage of primary care doctors in Wisconsin. Osteopathic schools have historically turned out doctors interested in primary care and family practice. The idea would be to start it as a private school, with the hope that it might some day be taken over by UWM.
-A Sunday New York Times story looked at the patchwork of government aid for people affected by the recession. The story was picked up by the Journal Sentinel, but the paper didn’t bother to include the information on how Wisconsin’s safety net compared to other states in the nation. The Times’ table showed Wisconsin mostly ranked high in benefits: 65 percent of those unemployed were getting unemployment compensation benefits (nationally, the figure was 44 percent); 51 percent of uninsured adults and 83 percent of poor children were getting state health insurance (nationally, it was 41 percent and 73 percent, respectively); and 67 percent of those eligible for food stamps were getting them (nationally, 67 percent). What stood out was welfare: Just 14 percent of poor adults and children were getting cash welfare in Wisconsin, compared to 21 percent nationally.
The last figure might help explain why Gov. Doyle wants to revisit the rules for welfare in Wisconsin. If more and more people are losing jobs and in need of help, but the number on welfare is static, it might suggest the system has created so many hoops to jump through that no one can get in the door.
And the Sports Nut explains why the mighty Cubs can’t compete with the Brewers this year.
