10:00 July 25, 2005
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Milwaukee toasts its riverside and lakefront development

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A liquid heritage: Milwaukee toasts its riverside and lakefront development

Sunday, July 24, 2005

By Betsa Marsh, Travel Arts Syndicate

MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- A zippy cruiser blitzes by as kayakers stroke near one bank and paddle boaters pedal near the other. A tandem canoe angles to go under the bridge as soon as a bateau clears the arch.

Am I bankside on the Seine or the Thames, full of tourists? Or the mighty Colorado, full of adventurers? Hold on to your beer can -- this marine traffic jam is on the rehabilitated Milwaukee River.

Yes, Milwaukee, one of those old, blue-collar, Rust Belt cities famous for the Three Bs -- beer, bratwursts and baseball -- was expected to fade away as America micro-chipped her way into the Information Age.

Instead, the city reinvented its downtown, leveraging one of the most seductive natural draws on the planet: water, water everywhere.

The Menomonee and Milwaukee Rivers meet at the Historic Third Ward, a hip district of condos, cafes and shops retrofitted into 19th-century brick warehouses, complete with coveted boat slips. The Kinnickinnic River flows in from the south to join the Milwaukee on its eastward course out to Lake Michigan.

Work began in the 1990s to re-create both the riverside and lakefront, while never abandoning the city's deep Teutonic roots -- Milwaukee is America's most German city, with dozens of other major ethnic populations as well. The beer still flows, the brats still sizzle, and the Brewers still play in their Jetson-esque stadium, but now so much of the city's action happens along its water.

Party Central is the RiverWalk, a $12 million project of double-wide sidewalks that line both sides of the Milwaukee River from the city's north edges to the Third Ward in the south. There are still gaps in the pathway, but eventual plans are to link RiverWalk to the LakeWalk, so pedestrians can amble for miles along the river and lake in one seamless flow.

Along the walk, designers built steps leading down to the river and circular overlooks just above the waves. The route is festooned with flower-draped lampposts, public art and benches just made for cracking open a book. Tiny bump-outs seem like perfect spots for moonlit kisses. Dozens of stores, cafes and bars with river frontage invite pedestrians to linger, browse and buy.

Since extending the invitation for locals to reconsider their river, Milwaukee residents have roared back, in power boats, tour boats, kayaks and canoes. As I enjoy the view from the prow of a tour boat, as low in the water as a Paris bateau, a man glides by in his dinghy, slouched crosswise in the boat, his sneakers inches above the waves, steering with one hand and one eye. The Milwaukee, apparently, is not a cheat-death challenge to navigate.

Like many urban rivers, the Milwaukee has had some rough use, serving for many years as the city's default sewage system. As early as 1911, inspectors were reporting that "the River water is now visibly polluted and unattractive."

"Like all industrial cities, Milwaukee turned its back on the water, which was a major corridor for the beer industry. It got filthy and people built things so as not to notice it," Sehler said. "There was a time when people swam in this river, and I hope they will one day in the future."

A deep tunnel project by the metropolitan sewer district started the river's repair. Now the Milwaukee River is the largest development corridor in Wisconsin.

"About 14 years ago, we decided to have a party on the river and see if anyone would come," Sehler recalled. "We had a couple of bands and some Miller beer and we named it RiverSplash. A couple thousand people came. Now, several hundred thousand come downtown."

RiverSplash was the kick-off festival in Milwaukee's jammed summer calendar.

Along the RiverWalk, two young guys hop off their bikes and walk them toward Pere Marquette Park, where the bands are playing. "I hear bass," one says to his pal.

Meanwhile, owners of the "Aqua-holic" cabin cruiser pull up outside the Third Ward's Milwaukee Ale House, where diners and drinkers relax on several tiers of riverfront decks. A few blocks up, teens from the Urban Ecology Center tote their green and orange canoes down to the water.

With winters like theirs, it's no surprise Milwaukeeans party outside all summer and far into fall, with at least one festival each weekend and most along the water. The biggest fill tents pitched beside Lake Michigan, the third-largest of the Great Lakes.

The Henry W. Maier Festival Park swings out into the lake like a fish hook, snagging some world-class events. PrideFest, Asian Moon Festival, African World Festival, Mexican Fiesta and Arab World Fest all party here, but they're young pups compared to Polish Fest, Festa Italiana, German Fest and Indian Summer Native American Festival, all of which claim titles as America's largest in their ethnic groups.

Irish Fest, celebrating its 25th year, is one of the world's top Irish festivals. This year, the president of Ireland will attend (Aug. 18-21).

Even in the odd moment when bands aren't playing or beer taps flowing, the lake is still the city's big backyard. Families rent bikes and rollerblades in Veterans Park, puffing up and down the LakeWalk. Would-be sailors book lake cruises right from the park.

Anchoring the new lakefront excitement is a glittering white creature that hovers at water's edge. One moment it's a giant praying mantis, lean and angular. Then it opens its wings to become a butterfly or exotic sea bird, ready for flight.

Step inside the Milwaukee Art Museum's new Quadracci Pavilion and get a sense of what Jonah felt when he was swallowed by the whale. Look up to see the leviathan's ribs, outlined by sunlight, then look out through his maw to the lake beyond. Who knows what this white-and-light creature truly is -- besides spectacular.

Spaniard Santiago Calatrava perched his white creation, with its moveable sunscreen wings, right into Lake Michigan, with a prow and patio that jut out beyond most of the LakeWalk. It adds extra galleries to the 1957 museum building by Eero Saarinen, a futurist in his own time.

The city is so proud of the building that it's made the design the new Milwaukee logo. Tourists arrive with cameras for the unfurling of the sun screen, called the Burke Brise Soleil, each morning, followed by an opening and closing at noon, and a closing in the evening. Locals record milestones -- graduations, weddings -- in front of its spiny backdrop.

And always in the background is that lapis lazuli of Lake Michigan. With each new mile of RiverWalk and each new lakefront building, Milwaukee is cheerfully getting bluer and bluer.

If you go: Milwaukee

Summer festivals:

Milwaukee's summer is festival-frenzied, with some of the largest public parties in the nation. Here is a sampler:

Thursday through next Sunday: German Fest, Henry Maier Festival Park, with North America's largest annually held German party; 1-414-464-9444; www.germanfest.com.

Aug. 5-7: African World Festival, Henry Maier Festival Park, with food, heritage and cultural displays; 1-414-372-4567.

Aug. 12-14: Arab World Fest, Henry Maier Festival Park, is a new festival featuring food, entertainment and cultural displays. 1-414-727-5517; www.arabworldfest.com.

Aug. 18-21: Irish Fest, Henry Maier Festival Park, with the 25th anniversary of the world's No. 1 Irish festival attracting Mary McAleese, the President of Ireland, herself; 1-414-476-3378; www.irishfest.com.

Aug. 26-28: Mexican Fiesta, Henry Maier Festival Park, with food, dancing and mariachi bands; 1-414-383-7066.

Sept. 9-11: Indian Summer Festival, Henry Maier Festival Park, with American Indian, Canadian and Mayan dance troupes performing in the largest Native American festival in the United States; 1- 414-604-1000; www.indiansummer.org.

Sept. 17: Milwaukee River Challenge, Pere Marquette Park and Milwaukee River, a regatta with rowing demonstrations in the morning and races afterward; 1-414-223-6901, ext. 123; www.milwaukeeriverchallenge.com.

For more information:

Visit Milwaukee: 1-800-231-0903; www.visitmilwaukee.org.

(Betsa Marsh is a Lowell Thomas Award winner from the Society of American Travel Writers.)

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