Investigative Report

Milwaukee Public Museum says its historic habitat dioramas are too large, too fragile, and too permanently installed to survive a move. The Bell Museum of Natural History heard the same thing — and moved theirs across a city anyway. Here is exactly how they did it, and what it means for Milwaukee.

In 2013, Milwaukee County's own Comptroller, DAS Director, Deputy Corporation Counsel, and County Board fiscal analyst formally recommended — in a signed document to the County Board Chairwoman — transferring 800 W. Wells Street and the land beneath it to a private nonprofit that had just required a taxpayer bailout to make its pension payment. No Milwaukee media outlet has ever reported it. The building is still publicly owned today not because anyone protected it, but becau

In 1976, Milwaukee County accepted the museum at 800 West Wells Street for $10,867,855. That price covered the building, the furnishings, and the land. The artifacts were beyond any assigned monetary value — held in public trust. Nearly 50 years later, a Disposition Plan seeks to change that without a single independent appraisal.