Milwaukee’s Lakeshore State Park visitor center will be ‘off the grid’

The organization Friends of Lakeshore State Park unveiled plans to build an off-the-grid visitor center at the downtown lakefront park, the Milwaukee Business Journal reports.

The building will satisfy its own energy using solar cells while accommodating functions in its meeting and event space. Plans also include a rainwater collection system for its gardens, as well as an onsite wastewater treatment system.

Due to restrictions on the park land, the building’s enclosed space cannot be larger than 2,500 sf.

More details on the facility's amenities, as well as a proposed budget and fundraising goal, will be shared during an open house April 21 at Milwaukee’s O’Donnell Park.

A portion of the existing design, about half, was donated by Milwaukee-based Kubala Washatko Architects.

“There is a lot of design work yet to do on the building,” President of Friends of Lakeshore State Park Robert Gosse told the Milwaukee Business Journal.

“Trying to get capital money for buildings in parks isn’t in the foreseeable future,” Gosse added. “We are going to take a shot at doing the fundraising ourselves.” 

Gosse expects construction not to begin before 2017.