For many months the site that the former Pieces of Eight restaurant operated off of has been considered as the future UWM School of Freshwater Sciences. This received flak from some Milwaukeeians who’d still like to be able to dine along Lake Michigan. Now both sides of the aisle might be getting their wish. According to today’s Business Journal publication, Milwaukee-area philanthropist Michael Cudahy, who purchased the lease on the Pieces of Eight property, is speaking to upscale restaurant operator Joe Bartolotta for a possible restaurant on the site. This restaurant would be constructed in tandem with the UWM freshwater school.What is it with Milwaukee these days? Where are our leaders that will put the good of the community first?
First we have Walker and the County Board playing the sell out and giving the county grounds away to a private developer, who wants to build a high end restaurant, a hotel, and oh yeah, supposedly an engineering school, which would have been better served being either on the UWM campus or downtown, say the Park East Corridor.
Now we see some the land at the lakefront being scooped up so that it could be used as a Freshwater School/Restaurant. What, will they be teaching the students the proper methods of preparing sushi?
Not one person that I am aware of has brought up that it should be just turned into a park, for the community to use, instead of just the wealthy.
This is a very disturbing trend that we find ourselves in, when the rich are allowed to snatch up public lands and turn them into something for their own profit and to keep the common people out.
The right keep screaming about how scared they are of the government taking over things. Meanwhile, we are just seeing the return of the feudal system, and no one even blinks.
Posts
A couple of things. First, I'm pretty sure Greg has this story wrong. What Cudahy has said is that if the school is not approved he would likely re-open the existing restaurant with a different operator. Further, plenty of people have said they want it to be greenspace, but nobody else has ponied up any money like Cudahy.
ReplyDeleteFinally, I actually think a School of Freshwater Sciences ought to be on the lake, and this location is a good one.
Second the comments Dave made.
ReplyDeleteIf Cudahy isn't allowed to donate the land lease to the school for a showcase building to attract talent to a world class university, then he's going to use it as a restaurant. He's been pretty public about that for months.
This land has been private for years and no one has complained. In fact the money that is generated from it, goes to pay for other things on the lakefront.
Using your logic, since they charge for admission at the MAM (where they have a restaurant) we should tear it down and build a park. Same with Discovery World.
That would be absurd, it would decrease the function of the lakefront, and thereby decrease it's value as a public space.
Adding a small building that is the signature location for a university that is helping grow the wealth of the city is a good idea. It'll create jobs and be a source of civic pride. Not to mention that with the right design (potential grass roof, sidewalk around it like DW) it'll ensure more public access than the current Pieces of Eight building.