CGII
Sep 15, 2007, 10:13 PM
Pretty big stuff. At this point it's merely a vision, it'll be interesting to see how this unfolds. Some pretty attractive stuff, though.
New visions emerge for MacArthur Square
Green designs aim to revitalize 22-acre site
By WHITNEY GOULD
wgould@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Sept. 14, 2007
Picture this:
A hotel cooled by geothermal wells. A tower mixing dorm rooms with condos and a "vertical farm" where people grow their own food. A tired old office building reborn as a glassy, solar-powered icon with waterfalls inside. A grassy roof that functions as a golf range.
These green dreams by local architects are all part of an emerging vision for bringing MacArthur Square, that 22.5-acre dead zone in front of the Milwaukee County Courthouse, back to life. The city-owned square, now suffering from years of deferred maintenance, was cut off from the downtown in 1967 with the construction of an underground parking garage and tunnels to I-43.
A serious makeover would take many years, many millions of dollars and feats of structural engineering. But city officials say an environmentally sensitive transformation is not outside the realm of possibility. And, they say, it could spark additional redevelopment around the west side of the downtown, building on new construction at Marquette University and the conversion of the former Pabst Brewing Co. complex to condos and offices.
"We're just brainstorming right now," Mayor Tom Barrett said. "But I don't see a downside in saying: 'Here are some great creative ideas. Here is a bold vision. Let's put it out there.' "
Rocky Marcoux, commissioner of the Department of City Development, agreed.
"Some of it just takes your breath away," he said. "If we can help guide some of these ideas in a way that shapes planning for that part of the downtown for the next 50 years, I think it would give developers the confidence to invest" in other projects nearby.
The idea for reinventing MacArthur Square has its roots in the city's 1999 plan for the downtown, which envisioned extending W. Kilbourn Ave. up along the sides of the remote plaza, now laid out on three levels that are virtually inaccessible. But then-Mayor John O. Norquist never picked up on the idea; he has cited its enormous cost. And Barrett recalled that when he presented the challenge of MacArthur Square in 2004 to a design conference of mayors, he was told it was a "Sisyphean" problem that defied fixing.
His planning director, Bob Greenstreet, saw the site as a design opportunity, however. The leaky garage faces an estimated $18 million worth of repairs in the next few years "just to keep it exactly as it is," he noted, "and where's the sense in that?"
Greenstreet, who is also dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, secured a $50,000 grant from the Richard and Ethel Herzfeld Foundation. The money allowed the Planning and Design Institute, a local consulting firm, to create a master plan for the site, starting with the Kilbourn extension along sloping ramps that would bring cars back to the square and reconnect it with the city street grid.
The grant also underwrote March workshops at UWM, where nine local architectural firms offered specific proposals for animating chunks of the site and its environs. The ideas, refined in renderings released just this month, include:
• A tower faced with white latticework next to W. Wells St. and the freeway that could house dorms for Marquette University or Milwaukee Area Technical College. (Arquitectura)
• A residential condo building on the south side of the courthouse, at 9th and Wells streets, overlooking a semi-circular park and a colonnade. (Zimmerman Architectural Studios)
• A glassy condo tower west of the Milwaukee Public Museum, connected to the museum by a transparent walkway with trees on top. (La Dallman Architects)
• A transparent new entrance to the museum from the square, along with an outdoor plasma screen that would showcase exhibits. (Engberg Anderson Design Partnership)
• A hotel at N. 6th St. and Kilbourn, possibly mixed with condos and offices, that would be largely "off the grid," drawing its cooling from underground geo-thermal wells and some of its electricity from wall-mounted wind turbines. (Hammel, Green and Abrahamson)
• A new, curved glass façade for the State Office Building at 6th and Wells streets, incorporating active and passive solar power, geothermal tubes and interior waterfalls. (Studio 1032)
• A classroom and dorm building for MATC at 6th and Wells, incorporating condos and a "vertical farm" of greenhouses and roof garden that would allow residents to grow their own food. (Kahler Slater Architects)
• Expansion of the Midwest Airlines Center along Kilbourn with a transparent tower topped by wind turbines on a sod roof that doubles as a driving range for golfers. (Johnsen Schmaling Architects.)
• A Community Justice and Resource Center with new courtrooms, a green roof and the text of the U.S. Constitution on an interior wall. (Eppstein Uhen Architects)
Dan Finley, president of the Milwaukee Public Museum, embraced the architects' visions, noting that his institution could gain new visitors and a more welcoming entrance. He said, only half joking, that he wanted to be first in line for one of the condos proposed next to the museum.
"We can't wait," he said. "It would make MacArthur Square the next hot spot for the downtown."
Jim Shields, an architect with Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, conceded that additional buildings on the square would truncate views of the courthouse. But much like the campanile in front of St. Mark's basilica in Venice, "they will also enhance it and make it more picturesque," he said.
Larry Witzling, who runs the Planning and Design Institute and teaches at UWM, cautioned that any new construction would require extensive structural reinforcement of the garage below.
"That adds to the cost, of course, but you have to balance that against the fact that you're adding a huge amount of value" to a desolate site that currently generates no property taxes and is almost never used, he said.
No one knows at this point what the price tag for a makeover would be, or how it would be paid for. But city officials said possible sources could include tax-incremental financing, in which new property taxes would pay for infrastructure improvements; state grants; and private investment. A proposed doubling of the 1,045 parking spaces in the MacArthur Square garage would bring in additional revenue.
A feasibility study is the next step. But Witzling is confident that the tract he calls "a black hole" can come back to life over the next decade or so. He points to the revival of the Third Ward, Commerce St. and the Menomonee Valley; the rapid redevelopment under way in the Fifth Ward; and the removal of the Park East freeway spur. Skeptics pooh-poohed those plans initially.
"It may take two or three years to figure it out," he said, "but it's doable."
jsonline.com
pictures from jsonline.com
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/photographer/11/11396_large.jpg
In this view looking north on Wells St., Arquitectura envisioned a dormitory tower faced with white latticework. The building could accommodate students from Marquette University or Milwaukee Area Technical College.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/photographer/11/11397_large.jpg
Engberg Anderson Design Partnership imagined a transparent new entrance to the Milwaukee Public Museum facing the square, with a plasma screen that would showcase exhibits.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/photographer/11/11398_large.jpg
Eppstein Uhen Architects proposed a Community Justice and Resource Center with new courtrooms, a green roof and the text of the U.S. Constitution on an inside wall.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/photographer/11/11399_large.jpg
In this view looking west on Kilbourn, with the Hyatt Regency at left and the Milwauykee County Historical Museum at right, Hammel, Green and Abrahamson proposed a two-tower hotel at 6th and Kilbourn, possibly mixed with offices and condos, that would be cooled with geo-thermal wells.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/photographer/11/11400_large.jpg
Johnsen Schmaling Architects proposed a glassy addition the Midwest Airlines Center overklooking Kilbourn Ave., with an insulating sod roof on top that would function as a driving range.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/photographer/11/11401_large.jpg
Kahler Slater Architects proposed a classroom and dorm building at 6th and Wells, incorporating condos and a "vertical farm" where people could grow their own food.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/photographer/11/11402_large.jpg
La Dallman Architects envisioned a glassy condo tower west of the Milwaukee Public Museum, connected by a transparent walkway with trees on top.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/photographer/11/11403_large.jpg
Studio 1032 proposed to create a new, curved glass front for the State Office Building at 6th and Wells, combining active and solar power with interior waterfalls.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/photographer/11/11404_large.jpg
Zimmerman Architectural Studios proposed a condo tower on the north side of the courthouse, overlooking a semi-circular park and a colonnade.
New visions emerge for MacArthur Square
Green designs aim to revitalize 22-acre site
By WHITNEY GOULD
wgould@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Sept. 14, 2007
Picture this:
A hotel cooled by geothermal wells. A tower mixing dorm rooms with condos and a "vertical farm" where people grow their own food. A tired old office building reborn as a glassy, solar-powered icon with waterfalls inside. A grassy roof that functions as a golf range.
These green dreams by local architects are all part of an emerging vision for bringing MacArthur Square, that 22.5-acre dead zone in front of the Milwaukee County Courthouse, back to life. The city-owned square, now suffering from years of deferred maintenance, was cut off from the downtown in 1967 with the construction of an underground parking garage and tunnels to I-43.
A serious makeover would take many years, many millions of dollars and feats of structural engineering. But city officials say an environmentally sensitive transformation is not outside the realm of possibility. And, they say, it could spark additional redevelopment around the west side of the downtown, building on new construction at Marquette University and the conversion of the former Pabst Brewing Co. complex to condos and offices.
"We're just brainstorming right now," Mayor Tom Barrett said. "But I don't see a downside in saying: 'Here are some great creative ideas. Here is a bold vision. Let's put it out there.' "
Rocky Marcoux, commissioner of the Department of City Development, agreed.
"Some of it just takes your breath away," he said. "If we can help guide some of these ideas in a way that shapes planning for that part of the downtown for the next 50 years, I think it would give developers the confidence to invest" in other projects nearby.
The idea for reinventing MacArthur Square has its roots in the city's 1999 plan for the downtown, which envisioned extending W. Kilbourn Ave. up along the sides of the remote plaza, now laid out on three levels that are virtually inaccessible. But then-Mayor John O. Norquist never picked up on the idea; he has cited its enormous cost. And Barrett recalled that when he presented the challenge of MacArthur Square in 2004 to a design conference of mayors, he was told it was a "Sisyphean" problem that defied fixing.
His planning director, Bob Greenstreet, saw the site as a design opportunity, however. The leaky garage faces an estimated $18 million worth of repairs in the next few years "just to keep it exactly as it is," he noted, "and where's the sense in that?"
Greenstreet, who is also dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, secured a $50,000 grant from the Richard and Ethel Herzfeld Foundation. The money allowed the Planning and Design Institute, a local consulting firm, to create a master plan for the site, starting with the Kilbourn extension along sloping ramps that would bring cars back to the square and reconnect it with the city street grid.
The grant also underwrote March workshops at UWM, where nine local architectural firms offered specific proposals for animating chunks of the site and its environs. The ideas, refined in renderings released just this month, include:
• A tower faced with white latticework next to W. Wells St. and the freeway that could house dorms for Marquette University or Milwaukee Area Technical College. (Arquitectura)
• A residential condo building on the south side of the courthouse, at 9th and Wells streets, overlooking a semi-circular park and a colonnade. (Zimmerman Architectural Studios)
• A glassy condo tower west of the Milwaukee Public Museum, connected to the museum by a transparent walkway with trees on top. (La Dallman Architects)
• A transparent new entrance to the museum from the square, along with an outdoor plasma screen that would showcase exhibits. (Engberg Anderson Design Partnership)
• A hotel at N. 6th St. and Kilbourn, possibly mixed with condos and offices, that would be largely "off the grid," drawing its cooling from underground geo-thermal wells and some of its electricity from wall-mounted wind turbines. (Hammel, Green and Abrahamson)
• A new, curved glass façade for the State Office Building at 6th and Wells streets, incorporating active and passive solar power, geothermal tubes and interior waterfalls. (Studio 1032)
• A classroom and dorm building for MATC at 6th and Wells, incorporating condos and a "vertical farm" of greenhouses and roof garden that would allow residents to grow their own food. (Kahler Slater Architects)
• Expansion of the Midwest Airlines Center along Kilbourn with a transparent tower topped by wind turbines on a sod roof that doubles as a driving range for golfers. (Johnsen Schmaling Architects.)
• A Community Justice and Resource Center with new courtrooms, a green roof and the text of the U.S. Constitution on an interior wall. (Eppstein Uhen Architects)
Dan Finley, president of the Milwaukee Public Museum, embraced the architects' visions, noting that his institution could gain new visitors and a more welcoming entrance. He said, only half joking, that he wanted to be first in line for one of the condos proposed next to the museum.
"We can't wait," he said. "It would make MacArthur Square the next hot spot for the downtown."
Jim Shields, an architect with Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, conceded that additional buildings on the square would truncate views of the courthouse. But much like the campanile in front of St. Mark's basilica in Venice, "they will also enhance it and make it more picturesque," he said.
Larry Witzling, who runs the Planning and Design Institute and teaches at UWM, cautioned that any new construction would require extensive structural reinforcement of the garage below.
"That adds to the cost, of course, but you have to balance that against the fact that you're adding a huge amount of value" to a desolate site that currently generates no property taxes and is almost never used, he said.
No one knows at this point what the price tag for a makeover would be, or how it would be paid for. But city officials said possible sources could include tax-incremental financing, in which new property taxes would pay for infrastructure improvements; state grants; and private investment. A proposed doubling of the 1,045 parking spaces in the MacArthur Square garage would bring in additional revenue.
A feasibility study is the next step. But Witzling is confident that the tract he calls "a black hole" can come back to life over the next decade or so. He points to the revival of the Third Ward, Commerce St. and the Menomonee Valley; the rapid redevelopment under way in the Fifth Ward; and the removal of the Park East freeway spur. Skeptics pooh-poohed those plans initially.
"It may take two or three years to figure it out," he said, "but it's doable."
jsonline.com
pictures from jsonline.com
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/photographer/11/11396_large.jpg
In this view looking north on Wells St., Arquitectura envisioned a dormitory tower faced with white latticework. The building could accommodate students from Marquette University or Milwaukee Area Technical College.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/photographer/11/11397_large.jpg
Engberg Anderson Design Partnership imagined a transparent new entrance to the Milwaukee Public Museum facing the square, with a plasma screen that would showcase exhibits.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/photographer/11/11398_large.jpg
Eppstein Uhen Architects proposed a Community Justice and Resource Center with new courtrooms, a green roof and the text of the U.S. Constitution on an inside wall.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/photographer/11/11399_large.jpg
In this view looking west on Kilbourn, with the Hyatt Regency at left and the Milwauykee County Historical Museum at right, Hammel, Green and Abrahamson proposed a two-tower hotel at 6th and Kilbourn, possibly mixed with offices and condos, that would be cooled with geo-thermal wells.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/photographer/11/11400_large.jpg
Johnsen Schmaling Architects proposed a glassy addition the Midwest Airlines Center overklooking Kilbourn Ave., with an insulating sod roof on top that would function as a driving range.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/photographer/11/11401_large.jpg
Kahler Slater Architects proposed a classroom and dorm building at 6th and Wells, incorporating condos and a "vertical farm" where people could grow their own food.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/photographer/11/11402_large.jpg
La Dallman Architects envisioned a glassy condo tower west of the Milwaukee Public Museum, connected by a transparent walkway with trees on top.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/photographer/11/11403_large.jpg
Studio 1032 proposed to create a new, curved glass front for the State Office Building at 6th and Wells, combining active and solar power with interior waterfalls.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/photographer/11/11404_large.jpg
Zimmerman Architectural Studios proposed a condo tower on the north side of the courthouse, overlooking a semi-circular park and a colonnade.
