Mix of Tax Credits and Opportunity Zone Investment to Save Milwaukee's Historic Domes

MILWAUKEE, Sept. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The public is invited to an unprecedented special "body of the whole" meeting of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors will take place Wednesday, September 18, at 6 PM, at the historic Domes at Mitchell Park. The public meeting will provide the Board of Supervisors and the public the opportunity to hear the plan to save the Domes and Park and finance the recapitalization needed to rehabilitate the iconic glass horticultural conservatory and build new facilities to make the destination state-of-the-art. The unusual plan calls for only $13.5 million public investment out of a budget of $66 million.

With a capital backlog of $156 million between 2019 and 2022 for its parks alone, Milwaukee County needed a totally new, innovative way to save its iconic and historic Domes Horticultural Conservatory at Mitchell Park. After two years of listening to the public and working with various teams on ideas to restore the Domes with no clear pathway forward, the County contracted Louise K Stevens, founder and co-principal of ArtsMarket, Inc.,(Bozeman, MT) a nationally known cultural planner and feasibility analyst, and a team of experts to develop a plan.

Stevens and her team responded with a plan speaks to the needs of recapitalization along with a programming plan that responds to transforming the Park into a national horticultural destination and that also responds to the largely Latino neighborhood. Uniquely, the plan combines Opportunity Zone investment, Historic Tax Credits, New Market Tax Credits and PACE energy financing, together with private sector contributions, to bring the price tag for the County down to the $13.5 million, with County support not required until years two--four of the plan

By using these financing mechanisms, the recapitalization does more than save buildings: it transforms the Park into a new public, civic commons, a hub for public enjoyment as well as for workforce development and new jobs in a low income neighborhood. It is a model of how a public asset can continue its tradition of being open to all, but with an added profound public impact of as many as 300 new jobs created and sustained on-site and hundreds of youth involved in apprenticeship. Because the various federal financing programs each require job creation and development of thriving enterprises, the business plan calls for the creation of enterprise subsidiaries that will provide the employment and sustainable operating revenue to meet the financing requirements. The outcome will be an economic impact of $160 million over ten years, based based on what the $66 million capital reinvestment makes possible, a 2.4 x ROI.

The public is invited to share their thoughts on the plan. Headsets for simultaneous Spanish translation will be provided and there will be a bilingual interpreter for Spanish speakers wishing to make public statements, as is appropriate for a plan that recommends, in addition to the above, that the resulting Domes and Park become Milwaukee County's first fully bilingual Public Park.

For more information contact Louise Stevens at [email protected]    .

SOURCE ArtsMarket, Inc.