Last March, the Wisconsin Center District released exterior renderings (and a couple interiors) of the convention center expansion, planned for the block between 6th Street, Vel Phillips Avenue, Kilbourn Avenue and Wells Street.
The designs were created by project architects Eppstein Uhen and Atlanta-based tvsdesign.
You can see those images here.
Now there is another view of how the new convention center may look on the inside, again courtesy of EUA and tvsdesign. This one shows a soaring atrium with a broad staircase and a waterfall wall.
These interiors, showing exhibition space and a wide, airy corridor, were released last year:
Sitework on the $456 million expansion will begin in July, with a formal groundbreaking and above-ground construction beginning toward the end of the year.
The new building will add 300,000 contiguous square feet to the convention center, along with 24 more meeting rooms, six loading docks, 400 indoor parking spaces, an executive kitchen and a ballroom that can seat 2,000 for dinner and a terrace offering views of the city. The facility will grow to 1.3 million square feet.
The Wisconsin Center District expects the project will create 2,300 onsite and offsite construction jobs and pay out more than $100 million in construction wages.
Once the expanded convention center opens, the WCD estimates it will support 2,000 full-time equivalent jobs – and generate more than $12.5 million in spending over three decades – by attracting an additional 100,000 visitors to the state each year.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
