DE PERE, Wis. — Northeast Wisconsin had its first look inside the Mulva Cultural Center on Tuesday. This $100 million facility in the city of De Pere will be open to the public on Friday.

What You Need To Know

  • Mulva Cultural Center features 10,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space

  • Hungry visitors can dine in the center’s upscale restaurant, Savour on Broadway

  • The current exhibit “Ladies and Gentlemen…The Beatles!” brings us back to the early ’60s when rock and roll emerged

James Mulva, the center’s founder, said he hopes this center will become Wisconsin’s newest destination for art. He shared his vision for this space.

“To having traveling exhibits, film exhibits, things that changed consistently all the time. So, we’re trying to stimulate the interest of all age groups,” Mulva said.

Tom Shefchik is the center’s executive director. Shefchik said this facility is world-class.

From its 10,000 square feet of exhibition space to its upscale restaurant Savour on Broadway, to its 200-seat auditorium, Shefchik said he expects the traveling exhibits featuring world history to be the biggest draw.

“I want them to feel that they had a great opportunity to learn something that they maybe otherwise wouldn’t have and that they didn’t have to travel to a distant city to do that,” Shefchik said.

The Green Bay area is known for sports, but Shefchik said he wants to change that.

“We’ve, of course, got the Packers. We’ve got great entertainment facilities with the Resch Center. We think we offer a unique opportunity here for northern Wisconsin and northeast Wisconsin to have kind of an arts and culture-focused opportunity here in the Green Bay area,” Shefchik said.

De Pere Mayor James Boyd said he expects this center will boost tourism benefiting the city’s economy.

“We anticipate there’ll be a lot of beneficiaries from this. It’s not just the residents who get to experience all this, but the downtown businesses as well, that will experience increased traffic from those who come to visit,” Boyd said.

Shefchik said no one knows how much revenue this center will generate. The Mulva Center’s goal is to showcase history, science, pop culture and art through seasonal exhibits.

“I think our variety really will draw people in that otherwise might feel like the arts and culture scene isn’t really for them. So, I hope that people will try it out, visit us,” Shefchik said.

Related Stories