And when I wrote about the probable loss of those historic buildings on the Milwaukee County Grounds, I omitted mention of this important early warning by the environmental group Milwaukee Riverkeeper.
Still Trying to Save the County Grounds
May 2, 2012A recent Journal Sentinel article, the "Fate of Wauwatosa's Historic Buildings in Flux" describes the sorry state of the existing Eschweiler Buildings on the Milwaukee County Grounds and their uncertain future.They are part of the 89 acre parcel of the County Grounds that Milwaukee County sold last year to the UWM Real Estate Foundation for development of Innovation Park - a project to include a university research building as well as privately owned technology-oriented companies and other uses.UWM officials have been negotiating a sale of the Eschweiler buildings to Mandel Group Inc., which wants to convert them into apartments. The City of Wauwatosa allowed for development of new residential buildings on this portion of the County Grounds as a compromise to help fund the expensive rehabilitation of the Eschweiler Buildings.Riverkeeper and our partners opposed this new development, which encroached upon important habitat for monarch butterflies and other wildlife. If Wauwatosa allows for demolition of one or more of the Eschweiler Buildings, the density of new residential development, if any, should be reexamined.
