A follow-up to Milwaukee County's $1 billion problem: County parks and buildings are deteriorating because they have been neglected for years.
After decades of pleas, our outdated and crumbling Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office is finally getting a new home.
The new building would be on six acres of land at 94th and Wisconsin in Wauwatosa's medical complex. Their neighbors will be Children's Wisconsin Hospital, Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, and Versiti.
The Medical Examiner's Office will also have a State Crime Lab and the Office of Emergency Management, all under one roof.
Here is a first look at the rendering:
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley says this 100,000-square-foot building is a far cry from our current crumbling office, "If you literally walk into the Medical Examiner's Office, you can see that the building is deteriorating."
It is so bad that a report by county leaders shows the medical examiner risked losing its accreditation.
Where is all the money coming from to pay for this? Much of it came quickly when $40 million in leftover county and state American Rescue Plan dollars was approved to go to this project. Crowley says another $14 million saved from the last three budgets will also be used. He says the last chunk, about $62 million in bonding loans, will be paid back over several years. In total, this building will cost $116 million.
Crowley says, "When I look at this building, I also see family closure. I see us investing in public safety. I see new things happening in Milwaukee County."
The building is projected to be open in 2025.
As for the old Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office? Crowley says it will be demolished. What the government-owned land will be used for next, is still unknown.
