Public Museum fundraises, plans start to construction
Milwaukee Public Museum continues to raise funds for its new downtown facility and plans to begin major construction this summer.
The museum has so far raised $80 million of the $150 million in private donations sought for the $240 million project, President and Chief Executive Officer Ellen Censky said Tuesday.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the site is planned for May with a planned major construction start this summer, she told members of the County Board’s Committee on Parks and Culture.
That $80 million, from 283 donors, compares to $66 million from more than 250 donors that Censky reported in December to the board.
That led Supervisor Ryan Clancy to say the museum was “far behind” on its fundraising goal. Other board members defended the museum’s efforts and criticized Clancy’s remarks.
Censky on Tuesday told committee members the five-year statewide private fundraising campaign was launched in July 2022. So far it includes 34 donations of $1 million or more, she said.
Funding includes county, state grants
Along with $45 million from Milwaukee County and $40 million from the state, the museum is seeking $5 million in federal grants.
The goal is to raise $108 million of the $150 million in private funds by the groundbreaking, Censky said in December. The current fundraising is focused on gifts of at least $100,000.
That $108 million goal includes donations for the museum’s endowment, which wouldn’t be used for building the new facility at West McKinley Avenue and North Sixth Street.
From the groundbreaking to the end of 2025 the focus will be on gifts of at least $25,000. The goal is to reach $130 million by then. The final phase, for all donations, is to reach $150 million by the end of 2026.
The cost of designing and constructing the new museum and its exhibits is estimated at $200 million, Censky said Tuesday. Additional costs include $20 million for the museum’s endowment and $20 million to move the collections, she said.
The current museum, which opened in 1963 at 800 W. Wells St., is too large, inefficient and affected by years of deferred maintenance, according to museum officials.
The museum’s latest board report includes details on maintenance issues, such as foundation damage, icing on interior windows, and a corroded floor drain that led to leaking that damaged a painting stored in basement collection space.