When Colectivo closed its longest-running stand-alone cafe, at 2211 N. Prospect Ave., in mid-January, the owners said they had hoped to reopen it, possibly by spring.
On Tuesday, co-owner Paul Miller confirmed that the coffee shop and music venue is returning.
“We will return sometime this summer,” Miller told me this morning, adding that all the locations closed during the pandemic will reopen, except the Bayshore cafe.
“We are excited to be making plans and can’t wait to get back at it. It’s a special spot for us and we are looking forward to reopening.”
In early November, Colectivo closed its Third Ward cafe, as well as the one on Capitol Square in Madison.
Also on Tuesday, the Pabst Theater Group, which promotes intimate concerts in the Back Room at Colectivo announced a September performance ... in person!
Singer-songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews will play Monday, Sept. 27 at 8 p.m.
A pair of postponed performances by Michigan’s The Verve Pipe is scheduled for the venue even earlier, Aug. 20-21.
A few other shows are booked for the venue in September and beyond, too.
As I wrote in January, The Prospect Avenue location was the first stand-alone Colectivo cafe. It opened in 1997 in a former garage in the heart of the East Side, helping to spur a renaissance in the area, thanks in part to Miller’s active role in the area.
By the time it was remodeled in 2010, it had already become a neighorhood landmark.
You can read an Urban Spelunking story about the building here.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
