Milwaukee LGBT is finally getting the chance to officially show off its new digs after four months of waiting.
The two-part "Welcome To Your New Home and Sumptuous Soirée" grand opening party is set to feature a full day of fun for kids and an evening of entertainment for adults Saturday, March 12.
The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center and its cooperative organizations have been up and running in their new location at 252 E. Highland Ave. since November of last year, and they're more than ready to celebrate the move.
"We had a hard-hat party last year where people had an opportunity to come and take a look at the facility without any of the build-out," said Patrick Price, director of philanthropy at the center.
"We knew we wanted to follow up this year with a gala, but we couldn't do it at the end of the year because we were afraid the opportunity would be lost with the holidays and whatnot. So we waited until a point in time where hopefully the winter weather has passed us by and we can have an opportunity to celebrate."
The move itself is commemoration-worthy on its own, but there's plenty more for the center to celebrate, too. Since 1998, the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center has grown into the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender resource of its kind in the state, serving close to 10,000 people in 2010.
The community center is also home to a number of affiliate and ally organizations.
"We collaborate with more than 150 organizations throughout the county, whether they are LGBT or not, so we have a large number of partnerships and collaborations that we work with," said Price.
"The programs that we're offering keep growing and the space where we were was constrictive and we couldn't grow in the volume that we wanted."
With the lease to its previous location at 315 W. Court St. up at the end of 2010, the center took the opportunity to look for a new facility to better house their needs and those of their community.
"Where we were essentially a facility that was one floor and then a couple of tenants up on the second floor, we now have four floors to spread out programs and services and activities in the community center, as well as offer more space to other organizations, either LGBT or LGBT allies, who are looking for office space and who want to be located in this nexus of organizations people can access," said Price.
More room means easier accessibility to everything the center has to offer, plus a one-stop shop for other related organizations that might be of interest to those who use the center.
"People can access Vets Do Ask Do Tell, which is an LGBT organization, and at the same time work as a volunteer for the advocacy group Wisconsin Voices and also participate in a program that the community center has," explained Price.
"We have increased not just our services, but increased the exposure of other organizations that are housed within the center itself."
Since the Highland Avenue building has given more than just the community center a new home, Price said it was only fitting to give as many people the chance to be involved as possible.
"It's a new home not just to us but to our tenant organizations," he said. "One of the organizations that is affiliated with us is Wisconsin Rainbow Families, so we thought that it would be a great idea to have a kid-friendly midday event for LGBT families with children and/or grandchildren to have an opportunity to celebrate."
Of course, no grand opening is complete without a gala celebration. The "Sunset Soiree" marks the second half of the center's day of festivities, which plays host to a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Mayor Tom Barrett, catering by Potawatomi Bingo Casino and entertainment from comedienne and actress Nadya Ginsberg.
While both day and night should prove to be a blast for guests of all ages, the new space is the best part for the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center.
"We have gone from a location that was sort of hidden to one that's really open to the public in the Downtown area," said Price.
"It's an opportunity of growth for not just the community center, but other organizations who want to have a home base."
Contrary to her natural state of being, Renee Lorenz is a total optimist when it comes to Milwaukee. Since beginning her career with OnMilwaukee.com, her occasional forays into the awesomeness that is the Brew City have turned into an overwhelming desire to discover anything and everything that's new, fun or just ... "different."
Expect her random musings to cover both the new and "new-to-her" aspects of Miltown goings-on, in addition to periodically straying completely off-topic, which usually manifests itself in the form of an obscure movie reference.
