In early 2024, the Milwaukee Domes Alliance had a choice before them: find funding to rehabilitate the Mitchell Park Domes or close them down.
Now, with $2 million in state funding proposed by Gov. Tony Evers and approved by the State Building Commission on May 13, the organization is inching closer towards its $115 million fundraising goal.
The state funding will support the alliance’s redevelopment plan called “The Domes Reimagined,” which aims to raise funds to improve the existing structure so the organization can better serve the community through environmental education and exploration, said Christa Beall Diefenbach, chief executive officer of the Milwaukee Domes Alliance.
“We have beautiful gardens that help to connect people to nature, and in doing so, by creating that connection, we are encouraging them to make more sustainable choices within their own families. That is really the power of the Domes,” Diefenbach said.
The Milwaukee Domes Alliance was one of 71 projects funded through the Non-State Grant program, a state program that supports local construction projects with a public purpose.
Several other Milwaukee-based organizations received grant funding from the state program, including Kinship Community Food Center, a nonprofit focused on food security, which received $900,000, and the Historic Haymarket Milwaukee, which got $100,000 towards the conversion of the Milwaukee Public Museum into the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin.
In a news release about the funding, Evers called the selected projects “critical assets to keeping state operations humming along for residents and visitors alike.”
State funding to support Mitchell Park Domes rehabilitation
Along with funding from Milwaukee County, philanthropic donations and other revenue streams, the state grant will go towards rehabilitating the Domes, including turning its fourth dome, which is currently a greenhouse, into a children’s garden, Diefenbach said.
Part of the project also includes building a new nature-learning center on the property so the organization can invite more schools to participate in field trips, Diefenbach said.
The Domes already hosts around 6,000 students each year, and the new nature learning center will allow them to invite more students to the space and encourage environmental education through new programming, Diefenbach said.
“Our youngest visitors are a really important audience for us, because we [have] the opportunity to affect them at a really early age, and set them on a path to having a meaningful connection with nature,” Diefenbach said.
Alyssa Salcedo covers Silver City, Layton Park and Burnham Park for the Journal Sentinel’s Neighborhood Dispatch. Contact her at asalcedo@usatodayco.com.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Domes Alliance gets state grant for Mitchell Park Domes future
Reporting by Alyssa N. Salcedo, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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