June 30, 2016Insider

Photo by Mark Baylor via Flickr.

The High Cost of Keeping Local Icons Alive

We break down the cost to repair the Mitchell Park Domes, the Breakwater Lighthouse, Lake Park’s Historic Arch Bridge and more local pieces of the past.

The Domes
Mitchell Park
Cost to repair: $70 million
The county horticultural conservatory at Mitchell Park, built in 1965, is on its last legs and needs a major renovation to stay open.

Historic Arch Bridge
Lake Park
Cost to repair: $1.8 million
Built in the early 1900s, this crumbling footbridge is closed while Milwaukee County considers its fate.

George Washington Sculpture
Wisconsin and Ninth
Cost to repair: $50,000
The Court of Honor Project has fully restored the main statue, but more funding is needed to repair the mother and son standing at George’s feet.

Grand Warner Theatre
212 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Cost to repair: $40 million
Although ownership of the opulent old movie palace is split between several different parties, volunteers have mounted a campaign to restore the aging theater.

Breakwater Lighthouse
Milwaukee Harbor
Cost to repair: $2.5 million
The Friends of the Breakwater Lighthouse hope to restore this iconic beacon on the harbor’s break wall.

‘Pieces of the Past’ appears in the July issue of Milwaukee Magazine.

Find the July issue on newsstands beginning June 27, or buy a copy at milwaukeemag.com/shop.

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Matt has written for Milwaukee Magazine since 2006, when he was a lowly intern. Since then, he’s held the posts of assistant news editor and, most recently, senior editor. He’s lived in South Carolina, Tennessee, Connecticut, Iowa, and Indiana but mostly in Wisconsin. He wants to do more fishing but has a hard time finding worms. For the magazine, Matt has written about city government, schools, religion, coffee roasters and Congress.