MILWAUKEE — As the snowflakes flew through the air on Thursday, construction crews remained hard at work on the site of the new Milwaukee Public Museum.

What You Need To Know

  • Construction continues on the new Milwaukee Public Museum

  • The finished structure will be more than 200,000 square-feet

  • Crews will continue to work through the winter to make progress 

The new building, located at 6th and McKinley in downtown Milwaukee, will replace the current museum located a few blocks to the south that has been in operation since the 1960s.

Mortenson Construction is building the new structure.

Kurt Theune oversees construction at the site, and said his crews are generally undeterred by less-than-stellar weather.

“Most of our craft workers were born and raised in Wisconsin. We are just used to this. When it gets cold, you put on a few extra layers and make sure you warm up a little bit,” said Theune.

Construction remains on target for a 2027 museum opening. Since breaking ground in May, work has progressed on the 200,000 square-foot museum space, with construction now up to the second story of the structure.

Katie Sanders is Milwaukee Public Museum chief planning officer.

She said that the unique structure of the museum, modeled after natural landforms in Wisconsin, will make the building more visually appealing, but also makes it more challenging to construct than a more traditional building.

“It is not a simple endeavor to build a museum. Also, not a simple endeavor to build such a uniquely designed construct,” said Sanders. “We are looking at a construction period wrapping up at the end of 2026, so while the building will go up quickly and then you will start to see the enclosure come in. A lot of work to do on the inside as well.”

Despite years until opening, the museum has already begun the process of packing up artifacts in preparation for the move.

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