A section of the Milwaukee County Grounds, near the Eschweiler buildings, is widely known as a resting place for Monarch butterflies as they migrate to Mexico.
Even WisDOT recognizes that, and then says it wants to destroy part of it.
More here.
Posts Tagged ‘County Grounds’
WisDOT proposes destroying part of Monarch habitat
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009UWM’s dismal hiring record in engineering programs
Monday, May 11th, 2009The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s engineering and applied sciences program have a total of three black employees.
Three, out of a total of 101. That is an amazingly low 2.97%.
Those numbers, by the way, come from UWM’s own affirmative action report.
As UWM seeks to flee the confines of the city for the comforts of spacious new digs on the County Grounds in western Wauwatosa, it is worth asking whether moving away from minority populations will help its minority recruiting efforts, or whether perhaps those efforts would be enhanced more if UWM were to locate its school downtown or elsewhere in the city.
There are no black males — a big 0 — on staff inUWM’s engineering and applied science programs, according to the report, which is dated Oct. 31. There are no black professors or associate professors there, either.
Weishan to seek delay in County Grounds deal
Thursday, March 5th, 2009County Supervisor John Weishan said he will seek a delay in County Board action to sell County Grounds property to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for construction of an engineering school and other facilities.
The deal is to be considered by the County Board’s Economic and Community Development Committee during its March 9 meeting, scheduled at 9 a.m. in room 201-B of the courthouse.
Building an separate UWM engineering school when the research park already exists could create “two taxpayer-subsidized placed fighting over the same piece of meat,” he said. It might make more sense for the school to operate as part of the research park, which includes significant county involvement and land control, he said.
“Why are the taxpayers going to pay to put us in a bad competitive situation?” he said.
Weishan also said the proposed buyer of the property is a private foundation, not UWM itself, a public entity. He said he wanted to know more about how the foundation would work with the county.
“If I have a problem with a real estate foundation, I don’t know what course of action I can take,” he said.
UWM, county agreement near on grounds development
Wednesday, February 25th, 2009Negotiators for the county and University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee are near a deal that would have the county selling about 89 acres — including 13.3 acres of conservancy land — to the university for construction of an engineering school and other facilities, according to County Supervisor Lynne DeBruin.
The proposal to include conservancy land is bound to infuriate environmental organizations and those who bargained in good faith to preserve the property for the public as a natural area.
“The negotiating team feels they are close to a final agreement and that a final proposed agreement will be available for public and county board review possibly by March or April for consideration in the April cycle,” DeBruin wrote in a memo obtained by Milwaukee Rising through other sources.
The land to be obtained by the college includes, DeBruin said:
- 51.6 acres in the county grounds development zone, inclusing the historic Eschweiler buildings and a grave of trees used by monarch butterflies that are prevalent on the grounds.
- About 6.6 acres that include the site of the Parks Department Administration building and surrounding parking land; and
- the conservancy land.
Another 17 or so acres between the development zone and US 45 would be set aside for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, which is planning to reconstruct and possibly expand the Zoo Interchange and surrounding freeway segments.
“The total amount of acreage set up for sale is 88-89 acres,” DeBruin said. “This footprint is much larger than the original 67 acres publicly set aside by county representatives, myself included, for the development zone. Proponents for the expanded footprint, including the County Executive, Sup. (Jim “Luigi”) Schmitt, and most of the county board, say the added land is necessary due to the state’s widening of the freeway.”
Proponents also argue that encroachment onto conservancy land will be limited to recreational use and for and storm water runoff, she said.
Because neither the WisDOT land nor the conservancy land would be building sites, “the total amount of land available for actual development shrinks significantly. It is likely tha the developed land will be densely developed as a result,” DeBruin said.
The development zone property to be sold includes a grove of trees used by the butterflies, and the deal is to include a UWM agreement not to disturb the trees, she said. “Whether this is sufficient for the butterflies is unclear since we don’t have the final language or final sign-off by naturalists,” DeBruin wrote.
The Parks Department also would be able to stay in its current headquarters as long as it wants to, she said.
“The 17 acres set aside for WisDOT may be eventually used by the state for the expansion of I-45 to eight lanes north and south,” DeBruin wrote. “The land could be used for storm water run off areas, relocation of Swan Boulevard and freeway.”
In addition, she said, “How well the Eschweiler buildings will be maintained and their ultimate use could be controversial.”
The City of Wauwatosa ultimately contols zoning of the property.
“The County’s amount of control could vary significantly based on how much or how little control the county wants,” DeBruin wrote. “At present, the negotiators are interested in the county keeping approval rights for any roadway changes for Swan Boulevard or Watertown Plank. The university would have substantial control of the land both in terms of development and re-sale; Milwaukee County’s control would be very limited.”
DeBruin said most of the issues between the parties are resolved. “The outstanding issue is price — how to establish a fair maket value for the land involved,” she said. “Both sides have had appraisals done — the primary differences between the appraisals are estimates of how much of the land will actually be developed.”
March 2 update — The Business Journal reports that the sales price will be about $11.8 million.
West side flood project moving forward
Sunday, July 13th, 2008
The old Sears warehouse on the Menomonee River — the site of scratch and dent sales for a generation — will be torn down soon if the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Commission approves a razing contract this month.
“The view on State Street will change dramatically,” said MMSD spokesman Bill Graffin.
The commission’s Operations Committee will consider a proposal Monday to tear down the Sears building, 5901 W. State St., and the former Ashland property, 1029 R N. Hawley Rd., for $248,000. The recommended contractor is Walters Wrecking, of Brookfield.
“It’s no longer in use,” Ald. Michael Murphy said of the Sears building. “It’s in the floodplain now.”
Removing the building, which is part of MMSD’s western Milwaukee flood management plan, will make the land available for passive recreational use and flood storage and will improve the environment, he said.
The western Milwaukee plan ”will include the daylighting of Schoonmacher Creek under the former Sears building and the lowering of the former Central Ready-Mixed site” east of the Sears site, according to MMSD documents.
The demolition, if approved, is expected to take about three months and be completed in December.
The Operations Committee also will consider a $7 million contract with the Canadian – Pacific Railroad to build a temporary railroad bridge and additional box culverts at the site of the County Grounds detention basin project.
“The temporary bridge consists of two 85-foot long single spans on both the westbound and eastbound tracks,” according to MMSD documents. “A 145-foot long sheet pile wall between the tracks will allow the continual operation of trains during construction of Phase 2 of the District’s project.”
A quick trip out to the detention ponds Saturday showed that washouts are still a problem at the site, although some repairs have been made. Birds, however, have made use of the washed out area by moving into the vertical walls created by the washout.
Where the birds are.