The two brick smokestacks at the west end of the Menomonee Valley were torn down last week because they had become too costly to repair and preserve. I won’t miss ’em. Architecturally and structurally, they were interesting enough, I suppose. But as “memorials” to Milwaukee’s industrial heritage, they represented the Valley’s worst – an era of filthy rivers, contaminated garbage dumps and black coal dust spewing from dozens of stacks.
“There was a permanent pall over the Valley, and housewives learned not to hang their wash outside when the wind blew from the wrong direction,” wrote Milwaukee historian John Gurda.
The Valley today is safer and greener (except for the pollutants belched into the air by WE Energies’ coal-fired power plant). It’s a national model of economic and environmental sustainability, recognized by the Sierra Club as “One of the 10 Best Developments in the Nation.”
Now under construction is the Valley Passage, a tunnel and bridge spanning the Menomonee River. Once again the neighborhoods on the near South Side will be linked with the Valley. It’s a more forward-looking landmark than a couple of obsolete smokestacks.
