Bronzeville Center for the Arts’ planned development site will be cleared by September − which project backers say will help their fundraising efforts.

The center, an African American art and culture museum, is to be developed at 2312 N. King Drive.

A 50,000-square-foot center, featuring exhibitions, education and immersive artistic programming, is planned for that 3.4-acre site. It’s now occupied by a former Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources regional office.

That building, which Bronzeville Center for the Arts bought from the state in 2022 for $1.6 million, will undergo demolition starting in June, according to a May 19 presentation to the Milwaukee Bronzeville Advisory Commission.

The demolition is “a good signal the project is moving forward,” said John Russick, center managing director, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in an interview.

That will help with fundraising as those efforts are heightened, Russick said. He said the center has so far raised around $30 million for the roughly $55 million project.

That includes a $5 million grant provided by Gov. Tony Evers through American Rescue Plan Act funds. That grant must be spent no later than Dec. 31, 2026, according to the governor’s office.

Around $800,000 from that grant will pay for the demolition, said Deshea Agee, vice president at Emem Group LLC. That design-build firm serves as Bronzeville Center for the Arts’ project representative.

The cleared site will include green space, art displays and space for communities activities before the new center is constructed, Agee said.

Meanwhile, the center’s architectural team, led by Michael Ford, continues to work on design plans. Ford’s BrandNu Design Studio is partnering with HGA and Hood Design Studio.

Both the center’s design and use of the interim green space will be determined in collaboration with community stakeholders, Agee and Russick said.

“This is more than a demolition — it’s the beginning of a transformative journey for Bronzeville and for Milwaukee,” said Kristen Hardy, center board chair, in a statement.

While there’s been strong development activity throughout Bronzeville in recent years, Agee told the commission, “the part that was missing was the arts.”

The planned museum is part of a new focus on that sector, Agee said.

(This story was updated to add new information.)

Read the full story with image on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.