Milwaukee's new arts district catches on

Attracts old, young crowd

MILWAUKEE, Wisc. (RWN) - Michael Hobbs had an idea. Take a rundown section of Milwaukee and turn it into an urban jewel. The only problem was getting the money.

Then Hobbs, a suburban realtor, was sitting in a cafe and had a flash of brilliance.

"I was drinking my near-beer," he said, and "I looked at it and saw that it had been brewed in Milwaukee. I started asking around and found that it was brewed near the rundown part of town, with all the old buildings from the late 19th Century. I drove over."

Hobbs bluffed his way past the gate and into the office of Col. Kevin Pabst, the brewery's owner. They talked about civic duty and Pabst got more excited.

Thus, the birth of Pabst City, an arts district in the old brewery district. Designed to be family friendly and accessible to everyone, the city sprawls 72 acres.

"It's a return to 19th Century Milwaukee," Pabst said at the dedication two months ago. "There are breweries, or, in our case, large former brewery buildings. But there are also open spaces for people to gather and enjoy the view or picnic or just hang out."

In Pabst City's three-year design phase, the decision was made to have private galleries and businesses interspersed with public spaces. The city's new art museum, for instance, had its site relocated from downtown to Pabst City.

"What we have now," said Neil Kalil, owner of Crusader Gallery, "is a really nice mix of people who come down here. We have couples with kids who come down for the weekend. We have 20somethings on chaperoned dates. We have older couples who come down to hold hands and shop. It's really become a gathering place."

Pabst invested about $6 million in the project, with the city investing about $12 million and the State of Wisconsin chipping in another $8 million.

"It's a great investment," Pabst said. "This is true community reinvestment."


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