St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care has announced plans to turn a vacant lot on Milwaukee’s north side into an outdoor community arts and entertainment venue.
The organization plans to redevelop a two-block parcel belonging to St. Ann Center’s Bucyrus Campus, 2450 W. North Ave., into a space that will include a band shell and audience area, according to a news release.
First, the site will undergo a major soil cleanup, in which dirt affected by petroleum-based pollutants and metals will be excavated and trucked to a landfill.
The soil remediation project is receiving $147,000 in grants from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and $400,000 in U.S. EPA Brownfields Cleanup Grants, the release said.
Remaining soil will be graded to form a contoured hill that will be capped by a synthetic membrane and clean soil.
One side of the hill will be shaped into an audience area with a capacity of 350 people and a wheelchair-accessible seating area, and the hill’s backside will form a children’s sliding area, the release said.
The bandshell, designed by Zimmerman Architectural Studios, is scheduled to be completed by the spring of 2018. St. Ann Center is working with Parklawn Assembly of God Church to raise money for the operation of the band shell.
St. Ann Center purchased the 7.5-acre parcel from the City of Milwaukee in 2014 for $1.
The organization will officially kick off of the project with a “Good Earth Celebration” at 10 a.m. on Aug. 11 at the Bucyrus Campus, 2450 W. North Ave.
