An arts and cultural center with hopes of altering Milwaukee’s Bronzeville neighborhood has estimated total construction costs of nearly $55 million, officials from The Bronzeville Center of the Arts told The Daily Reporter.

The Bronzeville Center of the Arts (BCA) would like to build a 50,000-square-foot museum and events space to replace the former Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources building at 2300 N. King Drive, nonprofit officials said. Gov. Tony Evers visited with the arts center officials on Thursday and proposed $5 million to help build the center as part of his $3.8 billion budget for projects across the state.

“We talked about the importance of a project like this not just in Milwaukee, but the project as a state aspect and how we believe it has the ability to bring tourists from all around the country,” BCA Executive Committee Chair and Milwaukee attorney Kristen Hardy said in an interview with The Daily Reporter.

The center plans to request $54.9 million from the state at the next State Building Commission meeting on March 23, an agenda showed. Gov. Evers recommended $5 million in cash and $49.9 million as a gift, a document summarizing agency requests and the governor’s recommendations for state building projects showed.

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