It's been a long road since the June day when my son and I arrived for our more or less weekly visit to the Domes in June to find a fence blocking the entrance. While I read aloud the sign that said the Domes were closed for renovations, my son burst into tears. He loves the Domes.
He loves the solar system model in the "cactus dome," he loves the fish and the birds in the "banana dome" and he especially loves it when the train show takes over the "cabin dome."
So, when he noticed on his birthday that the tops of the Domes were newly illuminated, his excitement for Wednesday night's grand re-opening ceremony began to really simmer.
I expected a crowd, but I didn't expect the traffic snarl, the overflow parking and the long line to get in. After all, this has typically been a place where -- aside from the occasional group of elderly visitors or school kids -- the only things that might get in one's way are the tumbleweeds blowing through the deserted terrain.
Nope, last night, the Domes were packed to -- and I'm willing to bet -- beyond capacity. There were older folks, couples appearing to make a date night of it and families with children of all ages on hand to see the expanded lobby (at the expense of the wildlife room ... where is the turtle?!), fresh clean-up job and amazing lighting.
The flora and fauna of the Domes appeared much the same, although the cabin in the show dome now has Plexiglass that allows visitors to see the interior renovations and the solar system in the arid dome has been replaced (much to our chagrin) with an admittedly more relevant Domes history video. We also didn't see the usual birds in the "damp dome" but maybe they were spooked by the crowds.
Although we didn't see them in the cold light of day, the renovations looked great. The real test will be on our first rainy day visit. Will we still get rained on inside? Let's hope not.
The lighting system is dazzling. Whether it's amazing or gaudy I guess is a matter of taste, but, personally, I like it. The Domes are stunning enough, of course, from an architectural standpoint and from a botanical one, but why not gussy them up with a little glitz?
It sure seemed like the huge crowd agreed, too. When the brief inaugural light show finished, the hundreds and hundreds of visitors applauded vigorously.
I suspect the County Parks folks were also a little surprised at the turnout. Despite the traffic mess on Layton Boulevard (when we arrived at about 5:05 p.m., traffic was already backing up onto the viaduct) no Sheriffs or MPD stepped in to direct -- presumably there weren't enough on hand. And although there were tables with free food, there were long, long lines.
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.
