There is a proposal to bring a beer garden back to Pere Marquette Park next year – between the Milwaukee River, Kilbourn Avenue, and 3rd and State Streets – and an upcoming meeting will unveil details of the plan.
The meeting is slated for Tuesday, Aug. 29, from 6 to 8 p.m. at The View at Evolution, 1023 N. Old World 3rd St.
The informational meeting is hosted by Westown Association and Milwaukee County, and few details are available in advance.
Westown Executive Director Stacie Callies and 10th District County Supervisor Supreme Moore Omokunde are expected to attend to showcase the new plan. Milwaukee Ald. Robert Bauman has also been invited to attend.
A Downtown beer garden, especially one in Pere Marquette Park, is far from a radical idea – there was a keg tapping event there in 2011, a pop-up beer garden in 2012 and an Oktoberfest celebration, too, from 2011 until last year. Last month, the park was the site of the one-day Deschutes Brewery street pub.
Meanwhile, parks across the county have season-long beer gardens, and the traveling beer garden continues apace.
The current proposal, however, is likely for the first season-long beer garden at the park. It's no secret that Hans Weissgerber, who owns the Old German Beer Hall across the street – and runs the Estabrook Park Beer Garden – has been trying for a number of years to get a permanent beer garden at Pere Marquette Park.
The popular Estabrook garden was recently named one of the best in the country. Another one like it Downtown, especially with a scenic view of the skyline and the river – and best of all, no residential developments directly facing the park – would be a great amenity not only to Downtown visitors (including convention-goers and tourists) but also for the growing Downtown population, which surely doesn't want to drive to a beer garden in Shorewood, Bay View or beyond.
So why not a beer garden again at Pere Marquette Park, which also hosts the River Rhythms live music series on summer Wednesday evenings?
Downtown surely is worthy of a beer garden of its own.
If you’d like to attend the meeting to hear the beer garden news, RSVP by Aug. 25 to katelyn@westown.org.
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.
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