During OnMilwaukee’s recent Hotel Week, presented in collaboration with Visit Milwaukee, we went inside the 1916 home of the Milwaukee Athletic Club at 758 N. Broadway to talk about its history and chart some of the changes the building, designed by Armand Koch, has undergone over the years.
Since then news has emerged that the club is partnering with Joshua Jeffers, of J. Jeffers & Co and Tony Janowiec, of Interstate Development Partners, LLC – who are both MAC members – on a $30 million renovation set to begin next autumn.
The club calls the project "mega-scale," but says its scope – and therefore the timeline of the project – have not yet been cemented. A press release, however, called it the "largest scale renovation the club has ever seen," adding that, "local architectural firms, engineering firms, and interior designers have served as critical early contributors on the project."
Plans already floated call for updates to athletic facilities; bar and restaurant venues; meeting; conference, banquet and event spaces; the rooftop entertainment area; and the hotel rooms.
BizTimes.com has reported that Jeffers, Janowiec and a group of investors plan to buy the building and lease it back to the MAC. They would expand and completely makeover the hotel, turning the somewhat dated rooms into a high-end boutique hotel that would be a separate entity.
"The MAC has always been the go-to hub within the greater Milwaukee community for business, social and athletic needs," said Milwaukee Athletic Club’s Board President, David Kriete in the statement.
"With this major of a project, and with a renewed and genuine emphasis placed on programming, service and the member experience, the MAC will once again shine bright and serve as a proud home to all members and their families."
Jeffers added, "Tony and I are honored to work together with the Milwaukee Athletic Club
to envision and execute a major historic rehabilitation of the Club’s building and facilities. As stakeholders in Downtown Milwaukee’s resurgence, we look forward to working with MAC leadership to set the Club on track for another 135 years as a revered social institution, and a critical anchor in Milwaukee’s Downtown."
My humble requests: keep the Dick Wiken fireplace surround, the Elephant Room and the Bali Grill intact and recreate the Snake Pit (pictured above).
Stay tuned for updates as they emerge.
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.
