Should the Lake Interchange be rebuilt essentially as is, or should it be brought to grade level, creating a downtown boulevard? Or is the answer somewhere in the middle?
Those are among the questions in front of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, as it explores concepts related to the upcoming reconstruction.
The DOT wants to know what you think.
Public involvement meetings are planned this Tuesday and Wednesday, August 1 and 2, at the Milwaukee Marriott Downtown and Saint Thomas More High School. Details are in the flyer.
And here are details on the project and concepts under consideration.
South Milwaukee’s Common Council — and those in Cudahy and St. Francis — have already weighed in. Their position: Keep it as is. The South Milwaukee council passed a resolution passed on April 18 to “oppose the replacement of I-794 with surface street ramps.” Cudahy and St. Francis passed similar measures. From the Journal Sentinel story on this …
South Milwaukee Mayor Jim Shelenske said on his Facebook page potential future plans to create a surface boulevard “could significantly increase your drive times.”
South Milwaukee’s resolution opposing the project, passed by the common council April 18, highlights some potential negative affects including the loss of Route 48, an MCTS freeway flyer route. The resolution also asserts a likely increased density of traffic on I-94 from Racine County to downtown Milwaukee as drivers change habits.
The Cudahy Common Council has passed an identical resolution, calling I-794 “an essential transportation connection.”
St. Francis expressed similar opposition to the project, which officials said that “would sever a key economic gateway to the South Shore and increase drive times between Milwaukee and the South Shore, I-43 and I-94.”The St. Francis resolution, which passed May 2, also suggested the proposal would increase congestion on surface streets within the three South Shore cities.“(The resolution is) just to let the powers that be know our citizens are against this,” said St. Francis Mayor Ken Tutaj.
“You’re going to have cars congested on a very small street,” Tutaj said, adding that the skinnier streets are proposed to include longer sidewalks and bike paths.
“The City of St. Francis opposes any transportation alternative that incorporates demolition or decommissioning of the Daniel Hoan Memorial Bridge or any other part of the existing I-794 … within the City of Milwaukee,” the St. Francis resolution reads.
My view: It’s too early to make statements like this. And it’s too easy.
As someone who uses 794 daily to get to and from work and has valued this fast and easy connection with downtown and points west, I suggest a key piece of information is missing.
How will travel times be impacted by the various concepts? The answer is, no one knows. Yet.
I asked that question of Project Manager David Pittman, and he responded via email: “At this time, that level of analysis has not been performed. As we further develop our various concepts into alternatives, we anticipate doing more detailed traffic modeling that will be able to provide travel time predictions.”
In other words, we don’t know perhaps the most important data point for those in the South Shore — the ones most likely to use 794 as their connection through downtown — to make up their minds on this.
If travel times are impacted by just a few minutes with even the most “at-grade” concept, then I’m all in on what would be a generational opportunity — a chance to unlock more than $1 billion in development potential, connect the Third Ward to downtown Milwaukee and the lakefront, and breathe new life into streets and public spaces below the bridges. A boulevard would also encourage other modes of transportation beyond the car.
And if the drive times are significantly higher? Then maybe I’ll need to rethink my position.
Either way, why shut down debate now? We may get one chance in my lifetime to do this right.
Beginning July 31st, 15th Avenue will be closed from Madison Avenue to Missouri Avenue for much needed bridge repair work. The proposed timeframe for the project is July 31st through September 30th (weather dependent).
Please follow the detour signs while navigating an alternative route during this project.
A clinic doing God’s work in Tanzania is not tens of thousands of miles away. It’s down the block — and needs your help. A unique special event gives you a chance to do just that next month.
The Mt. Meru Tumaini Health Clinic — started and operated by the family of Exaudh Mbise, husband of Trinity Lutheran Church (my church) Pastor Denise Mbise — is holding “A Starry Night Dance” fundraiser on Friday, August 11, at the Bucyrus Club.
In addition to Tanzanian-inspired and other appetizers and desserts, dancing (think prom theme, with DJ Pete) and a silent auction, it also features a boutique filled with handmade artisan goods from Tanzania and Exaudh’s terrific Kumbe Coffee, made from beans grown near the Tanzanian clinic. Dress is formal.
The clinic is making a real difference and can definitely use your help. From its website …
In 2001, work began in the United States to form a non-profit to raise funds for a clinic and to provide ongoing support for the work being done in Ndoombo. By 2002, enough funds were raised to construct a clinic building with running water, electricity and plumbing. The original building was designed by Troy Steege.
In August of 2002, thirty people went on the first mission trip to Ndoombo and witnessed the beginning of building a 9-room building to serve as a clinic for the village and surrounding area. Once completed, Romini could move into the new building.
On this initial trip was one Dr. Deborah Sweet and her sister, Coral Mack. Deborah is an oral surgeon and she worked on patients outside under the bougainvillea. Rev. Moses’ youngest son, Polite Mbise, helped Deborah with her work. Deborah and Coral noticed Polite’s interest in dentistry and subsequently funded his schooling in Dar es Salaam to become a dentist. He started working with his sister Romini at the Mt. Meru Tumaini Health Clinic in 2009.
Continued monetary donations and work performed by volunteers on yearly mission trips have made it possible to maintain and improve clinic services. In 2016, MMTHC received a license to provide healthcare to deliver babies and register births. Because of the wide service area of the clinic (10,000 people living in the area), and a lack of nearby medical services the Tanzanian Ministry of Health upgraded the clinic license to a dispensary. In Tanzania, a dispensary is a step up from a clinic. The staff will now work with the Ministry of Health to provide immunizations, maternity/delivery/well-baby care and health education.
I’m not sure I’ve seen a local event calendar this packed. And it starts today.
Here is what’s coming up between now and the end of the month, starting tonight with the Downtown Market and Community Dinner; continuing into the weekend with shows at the South Milwaukee PAC, the Friends of Grant Park Art Fair; and leading into Heritage Days. Enjoy, South Milwaukee!
Thursday, July 20: South Milwaukee Downtown Market, 3-7 p.m., Bucyrus Commons. Performance by South Milwaukee Youth Theater and music by Hankerins. Details
Thursday, July 20: Community Dinner, 5-6:30 p.m., First Congregational United Church Christ. Details
Sunday, July 23: Friends of Grant Park Art Fair, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Picnic Area 5 and 5A. Details
Monday, July 24: South Milwaukee Police Department DARE Golf Outing, Grant Park Golf Course. Details
Tuesday, July 25: Veterans Appreciation Day at Molthen-Bell & Son Funeral Home. Details
Wednesday, July 26: South Milwaukee Fire Department Brat & Tot Fry, 4-7 p.m. Details
Thursday, July 27: South Milwaukee Downtown Market, 3-7 p.m., Bucyrus Commons. Music by Radiation. Details
Friday, July 28-July 30: South Milwaukee Lionsfest. Car Cruise on July 28. Details
Friday, July 28-Sunday, July 30: South Milwaukee Youth Theatre Senior Cast presents Disney’s “The Little Mermaid Jr.,” shows all three days, South Milwaukee PAC. Details
Saturday, July 29: South Milwaukee Heritage Days Parade. 11 a.m. Details
Saturday, July 29: Great Duck Race, presented by Friends of Mill Pond and Oak Creek Watercourse, 1 p.m., 15th and Milwaukee Avenues. Details
For a full list of events, please see my blog’s Events page. I updated it frequently.
Hello friends, family & community members! We are still in need of several volunteers to fill our festival shifts. If you have 4 hours to donate during festival weekend, we’d love your help! All volunteers get a tshirt & volunteer meal. Thanks, in advance, for your support!
Interested in signing up individually, or as a team or organization? Do so here.
South Milwaukee Alderman Tim Backes has graciously volunteered to write regular updates for the blog.
You can see his latest installment here. It shares his views on the awarding of a proclamation to Assembly Rep. Jessie Rodriguez at last night’s South Milwaukee Common Council meeting.
Thanks, Tim, for bringing this idea to the blog! I am always looking for content to further our mission of keeping South Milwaukeeans informed on key issues, while also providing important context and depth where possible. It is why I started this blog as an alderman in 2009, and why I continue it today.
Please note: All content is written by Alderman Backes, and shared verbatim through the blog. Any opinion offered is Tim’s and Tim’s alone.
Additional Note From Me
On this issue, I agree with Alderman Backes and have personally shared my concerns with city leaders about the awarding of this proclamation. I did so as a former mayor who fought for this long-overdue relief for the better part of a decade (only to see it fall on deaf ears in the Capitol), as a resident of a city that has had to deal with funding challenges for far too long, as a parent concerned about the impact this budget will have on our local schools … and as someone who was subject to intense personal attacks from Rep. Rodriguez during my 2020 campaign for Assembly. They still sting.
Yes, this is personal for me.
Long story short, any thanks we have for Rep. Rodriguez should not have risen to the level of a public proclamation. This felt like a slap in the face.
Finally, I do not plan to continue this conversation on the blog, but felt I needed to state this. I am committed to keeping this forum about anything other than politics, keeping focused on the positive things happening in our city. And there are a lot. Forward!
From 2017 to 2022, the City of South Milwaukee had a 525% increase in approved new business occupancies. The Downtown District is now home to over 100 businesses. Bolstered by a determined business community and a proactive focus on economic development in the City’s strategic plan, the accelerated activity can also be credited to the generous contributions of the Bucyrus Foundation and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation’s Main Street Bounceback Grant program.
The Bucyrus Foundation funds were the catalyst for the Bucyrus Club & Event Center redevelopment, the Bucyrus Commons downtown park and event space, a Downtown Strategic Plan, and multiple business and commercial property grant programs.
The WEDC’s Main Street Bounceback Grant program awarded $10,000 grants to new and existing businesses opening a new location or expanding operations in a vacant commercial space. Over the life of the program, $250,000 was awarded to South Milwaukee small businesses.
Immortal Toys and Collectables is one of South Milwaukee’s newest small businesses and a Bounceback Grant recipient. “I love having my first small business in South Milwaukee,” said Peter Burgos, owner of Immortal Toys and Collectables. “My wife and I also enjoy being part of the revitalization of the business district along Milwaukee Avenue.”
Said Mayor Jim Shelenske: “South Milwaukee is a business-friendly community that prioritizes attraction, retention, and expansion of new businesses. I am grateful to those choosing to do business in South Milwaukee and I encourage anyone interested in opening a business to strongly consider making South Milwaukee their home.”
Those interested in starting their first business, moving, or expanding their operations can learn more about the Bucyrus Economic Development Grants and other opportunities on the City’s economic development webpage.
This is how I know John Galewski — as the guy who took time out of his day in 2019 to cheer up my son after he broke his arm a week into his freshman year at South Milwaukee High School.
John barely knew him, had never coached him, yet here he was in our living room, sharing some positive thoughts with a kid who just had his cross-country season ended early.
It meant a lot to Christian and meant a lot to me. And it was just another example of a man who I have come to respect so much during my time in South Milwaukee — as a parent, as a community leader, as a fellow coach, as a role model, as a friend.
Simply put, John Galewski is a Hall of Fame person.
He is also a Hall of Fame coach in two sports: baseball (in 2012) and now football after being named to the 2024 Wisconsin Football Coaches Hall of Fame class, announced earlier this month.
What an amazing accomplishment, and richly deserved honor.
Always check the Events page on the blog for the latest list of local events.
This month’s lineup is quite impressive — from traditions like Heritage Days and the South Milwaukee Downtown Market to some really cool new events at Grant Park (a special campfire-side play, a beachside bonfire, and art show) and two South Milwaukee Youth Theater productions.
Get out and enjoy South Milwaukee!
Thursday, July 6: South Milwaukee Downtown Market, 3-7 p.m., Bucyrus Commons. Music by Bluegrass All Stars. Details
Sunday, July 9: Last day of Milwaukee County Traveling Beer Garden.
Thursday, July 13: Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival: Bonfire at the Beach, hosted by NEWaukee, 6 p.m., Grant Park Beach. Details
Thursday, July 13-Saturday, July 15: “Embers,” a play by Tim Backes, presented by the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Council. 7:30-9:30 p.m. each night, around a campfire outside Wulff Lodge at Wil-o-Way Grant. Details
Thursday, July 13: South Milwaukee Downtown Market, 3-7 p.m., Bucyrus Commons. Music by Sonic Boomers. Details
Saturday, July 15: South Milwaukee Youth Theatre Junior Cast presents “Peter Pan,” shows at 1 and 3:30 p.m., South Milwaukee PAC. Details
Sunday, July 16: Suburban Soles Nature Walk: “Native/Non-Native Plants of Grant Park,” Grant Park Picnic Area 5, 10 a.m. Details
Thursday, July 20: South Milwaukee Downtown Market, 3-7 p.m., Bucyrus Commons. Performance by South Milwaukee Youth Theater and music by Hankerins. Details
Thursday, July 20: Community Dinner, 5-6:30 p.m., First Congregational United Church Christ. Details
Friday, July 21-Sunday, July 23: South Milwaukee Youth Theatre Senior Cast presents Disney’s “The Little Mermaid Jr.,” shows all three days, South Milwaukee PAC. Details
Sunday, July 23: Friends of Grant Park Art Fair, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Picnic Area 5 and 5A. Details
Monday, July 24: South Milwaukee Police Department DARE Golf Outing, Grant Park Golf Course. Details
Tuesday, July 25: Veterans Appreciation Day at Molthen-Bell & Son Funeral Home. Details
Wednesday, July 26: South Milwaukee Fire Department Brat Fry, 4-7 p.m. Details
Thursday, July 27: South Milwaukee Downtown Market, 3-7 p.m., Bucyrus Commons. Music by Radiation. Details
Friday, July 28-July 30: South Milwaukee Lionsfest. Car Cruise on July 28. Details
Saturday, July 29: South Milwaukee Heritage Days Parade. 11 a.m. Details
Saturday, July 29: Great Duck Race, presented by Friends of Mill Pond and Oak Creek Watercourse, 1 p.m., 15th and Milwaukee Avenues. Details
Launching a Legacy co-chair Jeffery Dess and SM Football Booster President and Launching a Legacy Committee Member Tom Spaltholz accept a 2023 Impact Grant check from the Green Bay Packers Foundation.
Really exciting news for this transformational local project — and the volunteers behind it. Congratulations!
Here is the press release from the South Milwaukee School District …
SOUTH MILWAUKEE – Packer Pride is alive in South Milwaukee. On Wednesday, The Green Bay Packers Foundation announced it has awarded $100,000 to help the South Milwaukee School District complete the renovation of its football field, track, and baseball and softball fields.
The gift is part of a total of $1.5 million in impact grants to eight Brown, Dane, and Milwaukee County nonprofit organizations.
“We’re so excited that the Green Bay Packers Foundation saw the promise in our project,” Interim Superintendent Jim Shaw said. “We’re working hard to provide our students the facilities they deserve. We know that academics and athletics go hand in hand in a school system. You lift up one and the other follows.”
The project was launched with a $1 million grant from the Bucyrus Foundation to rejuvenate Spaltholz Field and convert it from a grass playing field to one with cutting-edge artificial turf. The grant spurred the District to include the other facilities that also needed renovation in its $3.8 million Field Surface Improvement Project.
“Our fields and track have served us well, but they’ve become increasingly delicate and problematic over the years. Teams couldn’t practice on them for fear of damaging them before games, and upkeep became a real problem,” Athletics and Activities Director Ante Udovicic said. “With artificial turf on the football field and infields of the softball and baseball stadiums along with improved drainage, we’ll get more use out of them – and not just for our athletes but for our physical education and recreation departments.”
While the School Board has committed to paying for the entire $3.8 million project – it won’t have to. The $100,000 Packers Foundation Impact Grant will be added to the $1 million Bucyrus grant. The Launching a Legacy Campaign – a committee of community leaders has fundraised to help pay for the project. The committee has a goal of raising $1.4 million and recently cut a check to the District for $250,000.
“This project is about more than playing fields,” Launching a Legacy co-chair Jeffery Dess said. “There’s a lot of pride that comes with this type of investment in our community. Our students have something new and exciting to be proud of, and so do our residents. So many local businesses and alumnae have pitched in to help us meet our goal. We’ve still got a long way to go, but it’s obvious to me how important our students are to this community.”
Construction began In April and is nearly a month ahead of schedule. The centerpiece, the football field is nearly completed. Asphalt has been poured for the track and field facilities with the new, modern track surface to come later this summer. The baseball field excavation is underway, as is the leveling of the outfield, with work on the softball field to start in the fall.
“We’ve got something more than just a new football field and new ball fields. There’s nothing like this in our region – maybe even in our state. Our students and other teams are going to be excited to play here, and we get to show them our Rocket pride,” Udovicic said.
The Green Bay Packers Foundation announced this week it has awarded a total of $1.5 million in impact grants to eight Brown, Dane and Milwaukee County nonprofit organizations.
A record total amount awarded at one time for the impact grant program, which first began in 2013, the grants are aimed at directing significant funds toward organizations that serve their communities each day. The grants of varying amounts were awarded to three organizations in Brown County, one in Dane County and four in Milwaukee County. Some grants are matching grants, which require each recipient organization to raise the same amount in order to secure the donation.
In Milwaukee County:
Journeys Lutheran School received a $100,000 matching grant for their playground relocation and upgrade project.
Just One More Ministry Inc., received a $225,000 grant for their new initiative to add new community partners and new Mobile Meal Outreach sites in Racine, Kenosha and Waukesha counties.
Medical College of Wisconsin received a $225,000 matching grant for their MCW Health Equity Scholars Program.
School District of South Milwaukee received a $100,000 grant for their South Milwaukee Field Surface Improvement Project.
“We are proud to award these grants to eight different worthy organizations throughout the state of Wisconsin,” said Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy. “We have been fortunate to be able to enhance our charitable giving through the Packers Foundation since our impact grant program began, and we’re pleased to award these significant donations to these nonprofits. These funds will help care for our most vulnerable neighbors and ensure kids, families and individuals in our communities have what they need to learn, grow and thrive.”
Learn more about Launching a Legacy here, and please consider a donation.
The Traveling Beer Gardens are managed by Milwaukee County Parks in partnership with Sprecher Brewery. Revenue from the beer gardens goes back into improving the parks.
Our beer partner, Sprecher Brewery, offers an ever-changing selection of Sprecher craft beer at each tour stop. Cider, gluten-free options, and non-alcoholic beverages are available as well. While Sprecher remains the featured beverage at the TBG, we will also be offering City Lights, Lakefront & Eagle Park Breweries this summer.
It’s Da Crusher, of course! Shot the night of Crusherfest, as we unveiled this statue to the world. Do you have a photo you’d like to share on the blog? Send it along.
South Milwaukee Blog 