MILWAUKEE — Next summer, the Republican National Convention will be in Milwaukee. The political event will give the city a chance to showcase its local tourism destinations.
The Milwaukee Public Market is one of the spots getting ready for the surge of visitors in 2024.
Paul Schwartz is the executive director of the Public Market in Milwaukee’s Third Ward neighborhood. He said he’s preparing for RNC tourists and the events that will be held at the market.
“We engage right away not only with the Host Committee but with Visit Milwaukee to make sure the market is going to be a great experience for everybody coming into town, not to mention the fact that we’re also a private event venue for them so the space will be rented out in multiple different ways to accommodate the Host Committee,” said Schwartz.
He said the Milwaukee Public Market not only showcases Milwaukee but said some of its vendors are based outside the city, so the reach is statewide.
“You know when you are at the Public Market — obviously it’s in the City of Milwaukee just because of our name and our location, but it is the great representation for the entire state of Wisconsin,” said Schwartz.
Patrick Nedobeck runs the sidewalk “Palapa” bar outside the Public Market, which is an extension of St. Paul Fish Company.
He said he’s thrilled the RNC is coming to Milwaukee next summer.
“I couldn’t be more excited. I’m so happy we are hosting the RNC. It’s a great convention, it’s bringing tons of people to Milwaukee. Let America see what a fantastic city this is,” said Nedobeck.
Nedobeck said he considers his bar to be an ambassador for the neighborhood.
“It’s a full bar on a sidewalk. It’s kind of crazy, but that’s what it is and people walk by and they say, ‘what is this? We’ve got to check this out.’ So and I’d like to think I have a staff of very welcoming people. We are certainly ambassadors. We consider ourselves part of the chamber of commerce, I guess. We are here, we are very welcoming,” said Nedobeck.
He said the national spotlight is priceless.
“It’s goes certainly beyond the Public Market, but as a city I really do think that Milwaukee is one of the finest cities in America, especially in the summertime, and that kind of national exposure is golden. You can’t buy that kind of advertising for Milwaukee. We can share with the nation just what a great place this is,” said Nedobeck.
It’s a place Nedobeck plans to keep welcoming the crowds — now, and when the RNC comes to town in a neighborhood he calls “the gem of the city.”