Many details have to yet to be worked out or revealed about which objects in the current Milwaukee Public Museum will be displayed in its next incarnation, The Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin.
But be assured, one familiar face will make the move to West McKinley Avenue and North 6th Street, where the new museum is expected to open in early 2027.
Granny, who can be found in her rocking chair in the Streets of Old Milwaukee exhibit, will be on display in the new museum, Director of Communications Madeline Anderson confirmed in a video posted on social media platforms.
Anderson’s video, which reveals some other familiar objects that will join Granny in the new museum, explains the connections between the current Streets of Old Milwaukee exhibit and the Milwaukee Revealed gallery in the new facility, which the museum is positioning as the Streets’ spiritual successor. The video also offers what may be the clearest explanation to date of why MPM can’t simply move the entire Streets exhibit to the new place.
Her video also reminds people that the current Streets of Old Milwaukee exhibit will remain open as long as the current museum does, which is expected to be through the end of 2026.
First, some simple good news: the Schloemer automobile, many food tins from the Candy Shop and General Store, the Wauwatosa fountain and the apothecary mortar-and-pestle sign will be part of the new museum.
The automobile, mortar-and-pestle sign and other artifacts and specimens are considered collection items, which the museum will continue to care for.
In the new Milwaukee Revealed gallery, the museum will also freshen up its history by swapping in some beer steins and textiles that have been in storage.
Objects such as the popular Granny mannequin are considered props, not collection items, Anderson explained. They help the museum in its storytelling. The museum is still determining which props can be repurposed in the new museum, she said. But in addition to Granny, the penny-farthing bicycle and Abby, the meowing cat, will be part of the new museum, she said.
Any props that cannot be repurposed in the new museum will be “thoughtfully rehomed” with priority going to other natural history museums or similar nonprofits, she said.
Like the Streets of Old Milwaukee, the new Milwaukee Revealed gallery will be a walk-through city streetscape with homes, storefronts and other businesses lining the streets.
For example, Milwaukee Revealed will include an exhibit recreating features of the Schlitz Palm Garden, a real beer hall that opened in 1896.
In the current Streets exhibit, museum visitors can look through storefront windows to see what’s inside those recreations of historical shops. But in the new Milwaukee Revealed gallery, visitors will be able to go inside those stores to learn about Milwaukee’s past, Anderson said.
The facades of the Streets of Old Milwaukee structures were designed and built into the museum building itself, Anderson said in the video. That would make it “incredibly difficult and expensive” to move them, she said.
The new structures and facades for the new Milwaukee Revealed gallery will be customized to the new building, she said.
And, Anderson concluded, visitors to the new museum will still be able to get “a sweet treat” at the Haymarket Candy Shop.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Public Museum shares details on fate of Streets of Old Milwaukee star in new museum
Reporting by Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
