Photo by Austin Anderson (AA Photography)

MILWAUKEE NEIGHBORHOOD

GUIDE: AVENUES WEST D O M I N I C I N O U Y E J U L Y 2 1 , 2 0 1 7

Welcome to Milwaukee’s Avenues West, a neighborhood born of contrasts in the late

1800s: the grandeur of mansion-lined Grand Avenue, the poverty of Irish workers on

Tory Hill, and the ambition of a little college named Marquette. A neighborhood, like

so many in Milwaukee, poised for change.

Photo by Austin Anderson (AA Photography)

History

Just west of downtown, Avenues West runs from 11th to 27th Streets, Highland Avenue to Clybourn

Street — or, using the most obvious landmark, it is the northwest quadrant of the Marquette

Interchange. This neighborhood has been a study in contrasts since its inception in the late 1800s.

Milwaukee’s elite gravitated west along Spring Street in the 1870s, so many that by 1876 the

thoroughfare was renamed “Grand Avenue.” Mansions owned by Cudahy, Plankington, and Pabst

contrasted with the Tory Hill homes of the primarily Irish workers of the Menomonee Valley. The

city experienced a population boom, money started moving outside the city, and mansions became

apartments or multi-family dwellings. The Gothic parish Church, Gesu, arrived in 1894; Marquette

became a university in 1907; the Irish began moving to Merrill Park and other residents took their

place: Eastern Europeans first, then Latinos and African Americans. When the city expanded farther

west during the first part of the century and Grand Avenue became “Wisconsin Avenue,” new

institutions like the Ambassador Hotel and the Eagles Club helped keep up appearances, unwittingly

or not emphasizing the contrasts. The 1960s construction of the Marquette Interchange cemented

Avenues West as a distinct neighborhood, where contrasts co-existed and still do so.

Marquette University: Building Boom

Today, Avenues West is the urban setting of its most well-known

institution, Marquette University, which continues to expand its

footprint well beyond its original 1881 building at 1004 W. State

Street. The new, 750-bed Robert A. Wild, S.J. Commons

(pictured) is slated to open this fall. It follows on the heels of an

almost two-decade building boom: the School of Dentistry, the

John P. Raynor, S.J. Library, the Al McGuire Center, Eckstein

Hall’s Law School, Engineering Hall and the Dr. E.J. O’Brien

Jesuit Residence. An inflatable dome recently transformed

Marquette’s Valley Field into a year-round facility and a new

athletic performance research center is planned just east of campus

in Westown. Additional plans include a BioDiscovery District and

Innovation Alley for the new business school and new recreation

facility. Even with all the new additions for their over 11,000

students, Marquette University remains rooted — physically and

philosophically — in its urban location, balancing its ability to

build a new $96 million dollar residence hall in less than a year and foster in its students an

understanding of the community and a dedication to service.

A Struggling Community Finds Hope

In the surrounding community, residents experiencing poverty or

even homelessness are able to find assistance at various

organizations. The Milwaukee Rescue Mission provides

approximately 300,000 meals, 40,000 items of clothing and over

100,000 nights of shelter each year. Casa Maria Hospitality

House currently provides short-term housing for women and

children, as well as refugees and asylum seekers. City On a

Hill (pictured) works to combat the cycle of poverty with

programs targeting the physical, social and spiritual health of

youth and families. Finally, Neighborhood House provides a safe

space for youth and families, seniors and immigrants, reaching

over 4,000 individuals a year with programs as varied as outdoor

and environmental education, after-school support, safe sex and

personal responsibility and citizenship training for refugees.

Together with the Aurora Sinai Medical Center — the last of five

major hospitals that congregated in the area during the early

1900s — these organizations are helping alleviate the very real

struggles of people in Avenues West.

Preserving the Past

→ I R I S H C U L T U R A L H E R I T A G E C E N T E R O F

W I S C O N S I N

Where: 2000 W. Wisconsin Ave.

Over a century after the Irish settled at nearby Tory Hill, the Irish

community’s culture and arts are still alive in Avenues West.

Located in the Grand Avenue Congregational Church building,

built the same year as Marquette College and the host church for

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s first Milwaukee visit, the Irish

Cultural Heritage Center of Wisconsin is a hub for Irish culture,

arts and genealogical research. Meeting and entertainment spaces in

its striking stained glass, wood-beamed interior are available for

rent.

→ P A B S T M A N S I O N

Where: 2000 W. Wisconsin Ave.

The most well-known remnant of the grandeur of

Grand Avenue, the Pabst Mansion became the

home of beer baron Captain Frederick Pabst in

1890. Boasting three floors, a full attic and

basement, ten bathrooms, fourteen fireplaces,

plus a carriage house and greenhouse, the over

20,000-square-foot dwelling still sits atop a little

hill, now squeezed between Marquette’s

Mashuda residence hall and The Marq luxury

student apartments. In 1908, the mansion

changed its identity, becoming the archbishop’s residence and the center of the Roman Catholic

Archdiocese of Milwaukee for the next sixty years. Plans to raze it for a parking lot failed in 1975,

and three years later it was opened to the public.

→ C H U D N O W M U S E U M O F Y E S T E R Y E A R

Where: 839 N. 11th St.

If you look closely, you can see it from I-43, tucked away

between Wells Street and Kilbourn Avenue. The

eclectic Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear highlights

Milwaukee’s history during the first half of the 1900s in a

way befitting its location: the home and law office of

Avrum M. Chudnow, who collected memorabilia until his

death in 2005. You won’t find any glass-cased exhibits in

Photo by Dominic Inouye

Photo by Dominic Inouye

Photo by Dominic Inouye

this two-story house that Chudnow bought in 1966. Instead, each room is transformed into a unique

environment: the immigrant-run Grafman Grocery Store, the Saxe Brothers Movie Palace (they

owned forty-two movie theaters in their heyday), a speakeasy and Dr. Joseph Eisenberg’s clinic

waiting room (he was a prior owner of the house). Eighteen exhibits allow visitors to experience

Milwaukee’s past through over 250,000 items ranging from the political to fashion to toys and more.

Envisioning the Future

→ H A G G E R T Y M U S E U M O F A R T

Where: 530 N. 13th St.

While the Haggerty Museum, added to Marquette

University’s campus in 1984, houses a rotating

display of Italian Renaissance painters and Old

Masters, it excels at featuring Wisconsin artists,

modern American photography, and exhibits

focused on contemporary social issues. Open to the

public, the Haggerty’s mission aligns with the

university’s: “to inform, strengthen and transform

our communities.” To that end, exhibits like the

current Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Mary L.

Nohl Fund Fellowships for Individual Artists 2016

continue to delight, perplex, and challenge visitors. The Fellowships support the creation of new

work of both established artists and emerging ones. At the exhibit, which runs until September 17,

visitors encounter an enlarged frame from emerging artist Rose Curley’s graphic memoir about her

transracial adoption. “A Cabin of One’s Own” immerses visitors in Curley’s historical and personal

research with two- and three-dimensional representations, artifacts, writing and video.

→ I N T E R N A T I O N A L L E A R N I N G C E N T E R

Where: 639 N. 25th St.

The International Learning Center, quietly

operating out of the Central United Methodist

Church (you may have noticed the pointy concrete

modernism), has prepared, since 1981, over 5,000

adult refugees from Africa and Southeast Asian for

their future in Wisconsin. A program of the

nearby Neighborhood House of Milwaukee, the

Center — run by a mix of Milwaukee Area

Technical Collegeand other volunteers — provides

literacy and communication skills, citizenship and life skills. Like the other organizations listed

earlier, the ILC is always looking for volunteers to work with their eager-to-learn, future Americans.

Photo by Jeff Bentoff

Photo by Dominic Inouye

→ M O B I L E D E S I G N B O X

Where: 753 N. 27th St.

Finally, keep your eyes open for new pop-up

galleries showcasing urban designers,

community artists, and other creatives at 27th

Street’s Mobile Design Box. A community

outreach initiative of UWM’s School of

Architecture and Urban Planning (SARUP),

this innovative center’s latest gallery (July 21

from 5 to 9 p.m. and July 22 from 10 a.m. to 4

p.m.) couples the work of black visual artists

(Fresh Perspective) with historical preservation

(WasteCap). First popping up at the North End,

then the Historic Pritzlaff Building, this is the

Mobile Design Box’s third location, a

conscious choice given Avenue West’s

revitalization.

Avenues West is indeed a “Phoenix Rising,”

preserving its past but revealing itself more and

more as a vibrant community of arts,

academics, and community service.

Where to Eat

Avenues West has no shortage of good places to eat. First, try Marquette campus standbys

like Sobelman’s, Real Chili, Mendy Restaurant–even if you’re not a student. Then head over

to Miss Katie’s Diner, which has been dishing up 50s-inspired comfort food for 25 years, or

splurge for surf and turf at the 5 O’Clock Steakhouse. However, two establishments that represent

the luxurious past and the hopeful future of Avenues West are the Ambassador Hotel’s newly

remodeled spaces — The Fitz and Gin Rickey — and the soon-to-be expanding Daddy’s Soul Food

& Grille.

Photo by Dominic Inouye

Kate Madigan’s “Phoenix Rising” mural as seen

through the Neighborhood House Garden.

Photo by Dominic Inouye

→ T H E F I T Z & G I N R I C K E Y

Where: 2308 W. Wisconsin Ave.

The Ambassador Hotel wants to

transport you back to the 1920s of the

hotel’s early days on Wisconsin

Avenue. The former Envoy restaurant

and lounge have been

reimagined as The Fitz — an obvious

nod to F. Scott Fitzgerald — and Gin

Rickey. The blue, cream and gold

color scheme has been transformed into

a truly art deco space, with warmer

golds, browns and greens; the fancy

crystal chandeliers have been replaced

with abstract, retro lighting fixtures.

Chef Jason Gorman’s menus are inspired by the hotel’s past, serving up rich offerings like scallops

cordon bleu and spatchcocked chicken. In the new lounge, patrons can enjoy “pre-Prohibition-

inspired artisan cocktails” (including, of course, the Gin Rickey, made with Rehorst gin), small plates

like red deer venison meatballs and vegetarian entrees like Gardener’s Pie.

→ D A D D Y ’ S S O U L F O O D & G R I L L E

Where: 754 N. 27th St.

Look for an expansion this fall of Daddy’s Soul Food &

Grille, which grew from a family catering business almost

three years ago into the beloved and therefore busy place

that it is today. Even at mid-afternoon on Friday, happy,

boisterous customers filled almost all the tables at Daddy’s,

located in the SoHi Building (for “South of Highland”),

which is helping to activate the revitalization of 27th Street.

Black and white photos of the owner’s father, the

restaurant’s namesake, mix with local artwork to create a

homey feel. The most popular home-cooked order seems to

be the $9.99 buffet, which gets you one meat (try the

meatloaf or catfish) and three sides (try greens and sweet

potatoes, for sure).

Photo by Dominic Inouye

Photo by Dominic Inouye