Milwaukee's Bronzeville community getting new look to show off its history

Colorful benches and decorative historical markers and banners will dot several streets along Dr. Martin Luther King Drive to spotlight Bronzeville's history in Milwaukee.

Ray Hill, executive director of the Historic King Drive Business Improvement District, updated the Bronzeville Advisory Committee Monday on the King Drive streetscape project.

The nearly $800,000 project will include colorful steel benches, street signages and informational makers as well as decorative planters, bike racks and trash receptacles in an effort to beautify and brand the Bronzeville community. Installation will begin in a couple of weeks, followed by a mural installation later in the summer.

The markers and banners will highlight the area’s German, Jewish and African-American roots. The business improvement district talked with community members and the Jewish Museum to get historical context on notable individuals from the area, including Golda Meir and real estate broker Beechie O. Brooks, who developed the Black enclave of Halyard Park, known as the “suburb within a city.”

The streetscape project is part of the BID’s rebranding effort and grew out of a June 2022 strategic planning session. The BID, which marked its 30th year in 2023, wanted to find ways to brand itself and the historic Bronzeville area, as well as highlight local businesses that make the area a destination.

Rich with retail businesses, cultural institutions and history, Bronzeville was listed in the New York Times’ annual list of 52 places to visit in 2022, featuring destinations around the globe.

“There is so much development happening in the area, we just wanted people to understand where they were," Hill told the Journal Sentinel after the BAC meeting. "It’s an opportunity for us as we rebrand to create more visual aesthetics as well.”

Money for the project came from an expired tax incremental district. The streetscape project stretches along King Drive, from McKinley Avenue to Garfield Avenue.

Banners will identify different neighborhoods, Haymarket, Brewers Hill and Halyard Park. The goal is to “not only connect the neighborhoods but the commercial corridor along King Drive,” Hill said.

More: Milwaukee's Bronzeville neighborhood makes New York Times list of places to visit this year

Historical markers will highlight beer baron Joseph Schlitz and the development of Schlitz Park and the original Bronzeville of the 1940s, '50s and '60s, before urban renewal when the Interstate 43 construction decimated the neighborhood.

Key to Bronzeville’s history is Halyard Park, the first Black urban subdivision in Milwaukee, developed by Brooks and financed by a Black bank. Markers will pay homage to Wilbur and Ardie Clark Halyard, who spearheaded their namesake neighborhood’s redevelopment in the 1970s.

“That one is special because Halyard Park is still a very prominent neighborhood today and it is very unique in its story," Hill said, "and we wanted to make sure we were able to preserve that story as well.”

Hill has a personal connection to another notable individual featured in the streetscape project — her grandfather, Lawrence V. Hill. He was a prominent businessman who owned Larry’s Chicken Shack in Bronzeville in the '50s.

The BID worked with a number of community partners, including Retailworks Inc., to design some of the streetscape details. Retailworks Inc. was instrumental in designing the historical markers and the color coordination of the benches.

The benches, branded with the Historic King Drive BID logo, are painted an orange color called Vivid Dreams. The color plays into the Rev. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and the BID’s mission to create a vibrant commercial corridor.

The BID, Hill added, was intentional in the design that spoke to the area and wasn’t boilerplate or picked from a catalog.

She wanted people to drive down King Drive and see a street that’s bright and active. Hill saw it as an opportunity to change the narrative that's commonplace of most streets bearing King’s name in urban neighborhoods.

“They are usually blighted or severely distressed. Because we are not that, we wanted to lean very heavily into vibrancy,” said Hill, who also served as the advisory committee vice chair.

“We wanted a group of colors that had some warmth but also some vibrancy to help change the narrative around what most MLKs (streets) in the nation are.”

More: Milwaukee looking for developers for historic Bronzeville building, but gets no takers

In other advisory committee business, Matt Haessly with the Department of City Development said the city still seeks developers of the long-vacant Hummel/Uihlein Building, at 2673-79 N. King Drive. The price dropped to $5,000. It was previously listed at $10,000. It's been on the market since 2022.

Haessly noted the building, which has landmark status, has received some inquiries, but it's a challenging development and could be developed through a collaborative effort.

Questions have been raised about delisting the building from its historic designation, which has been an issue for potential developers. The building, which needs substantial structural work, was constructed by prominent architect Charles Kirchhoff in 1889. The three-story cream city brick building is noted for its Romanesque revival style, a signature feature of Kirchhoff, who designed several taverns for the Schlitz Brewing Company.

"It's still actively out there," Haessly said. "If you know anybody who wants to team up with somebody to work with us to get this property back into ... use, we would be happy to entertain your offers."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee's Bronzeville neighborhood getting new streetscaping