Show Dome goes heavy metal
The Show Dome at Mitchell Park is getting a full suit of metal armor — on the inside — to protect its visitors.
Beginning this week, stainless steel mesh is being lifted into place to form a lining inside the entire dome, one of three at Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory on S. Layton Blvd.
Now that repairs have started, the Show Dome — home of floral displays with changing themes and a popular backdrop for wedding party photos — is on schedule to reopen May 1, Horticultural Services Director Sandy Folaron said. When it reopens, visitors will see the traditional Spring Impressions Show with flowering hyacinth, tulips and daffodils, Folaron said.
The three domes — Show, Desert and Tropical — were closed in February out of concern for public safety after a piece of concrete fell inside the Desert Dome in late January. Before that, the Tropical Dome was considered the greatest risk to public safety from falling debris. In the weeks since then, the future of the Milwaukee attraction has become a focus of civic consternation, not to mention a political hot button.
Cost of the temporary fix at the Show Dome — buying the mesh, hoisting it up and fastening it in place — is estimated at $263,000, county Facilities Management Director Jeremy Theis said. The work should not require additional maintenance for five years.
Crews from Masonry Restoration Inc. of Milwaukee are using five lifts — including a crane tall enough to reach the 85-foot-high center peak — to install the mesh.
The timing of the repairs for the Desert and Tropical domes will depend on the availability of more stainless steel mesh, as well as specialized lifts needed to work above tall, living plants in those domes, Theis said.
Work in those two domes will take longer, perhaps 10 to 20 weeks each, he said.
Final cost estimates for repairing the remaining two domes will be completed in May.
The stainless steel mesh selected to line the Show Dome has one-half-inch hexagonal openings. That size hole is small enough to trap any concrete flaking off the support frame and large enough to allow sufficient light to enter the dome for plants, Theis said. The six-sided holes also are big enough for inspectors to monitor deterioration of the frame.
It looks like chicken wire with a smaller hole and is lightweight.
The frame inside each of the aging domes is made of steel-reinforced concrete supports that look like beams, and concrete encases metal plates connecting the beams.
The condition of the frame within the Tropical Dome was known to have deteriorated since the county spent $200,000 on repairs to concrete and connections in late 2013 and early 2014, parks officials said. The Tropical Dome was closed for several months at that time.
The Conservatory was built in stages between 1959 and 1967. The Show Dome opened in December 1964, followed by the Tropical Dome in January 1966 and the Desert Dome in November 1967.
More than $12.5 million has been spent on repairs and maintenance at the domes from 1991 through 2015.
Closing of the Domes has become an issue in the race for Milwaukee County executive on Tuesday’s spring election ballot.
State Sen. Chris Larson is challenging County Executive Chris Abele for the job, and Larson has accused Abele of inflating costs of major renovation to persuade the public to raze the domes.
Abele administration officials have said complete renovation to extend the life of the domes could cost up to $70 million, or more.
Larson estimated the cost could be kept to $45 million.
At candidate forums, Abele has said the public should decide the future of the domes since taxpayers will fund one of three options: continued temporary repairs; major renovations; or replacing them with some other structure.
Abele is setting up a conservatory advisory committee to hold public meetings on the options. A preliminary briefing was held March 23 with representatives of community groups invited to make up the committee, said Raisa Koltun, Abele’s chief of staff.
Among the groups attending the briefing: Friends of the Domes; Clarke Square Neighborhood; Potawatomi Bingo and Casino; Visit Milwaukee and NEWaukee.
The 2016 Parks Department budget includes the initial $500,000 needed to pay for the work inside the Show Dome, plus engineering and design plans for all three domes.
In a recent statement thanking the County Board for approving an additional $500,000 for dome repairs this year, Abele said: “The Mitchell Park Conservatory domes have been an important and living part of Milwaukee’s history for more than 50 years.”
“Let’s make sure the next generation has a conservatory that gains national recognition” in line with the legacy and history of the domes, Abele said.