Ingenious and beautiful, the Mitchell Park Domes are nationally significant Midcentury Modern structures that are an important part of Milwaukee’s heritage. Milwaukee County is now evaluating long-term options for the Domes, including demolition, partial restoration, or full reconstruction.

A new report prepared by Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates (WJE) for the National Trust outlines a comprehensive rehabilitation approach that would cost $18.6 million. In addition to costing approximately one-third the amount of the full rehab option outlined by the County’s consultants, the WJE approach also provides solutions to the water infiltration issues that have long plagued the Domes.

WJE is a highly respected firm that has worked on such high-profile projects as St. Louis’s Gateway Arch, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Milwaukee City Hall, the Washington Monument, and the Sydney Opera House. WJE believes that “the Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory Domes are unique, architecturally significant structures that have performed well during their first fifty-eight years of service life and can be preserved.”

Campaign Goals

• Rally public support to save the Mitchell Park Domes.
• Increase awareness about this nationally significant example of Midcentury Modern architecture.

Campaign Partner

• Milwaukee Preservation Alliance