Milwaukee Public Library will host a community meeting about the new mixed-use library development on Good Hope Road that will replace the Mill Road Branch.
The meeting will be held at Mill Road Library, 6431 N. 76th St., on Tuesday, Nov. 7, from 6 to 8 p.m.
The project, at 7717 W. Good Hope Rd., is being directed by Maures Development and Royal Capital LLC. The building, which will include 65 mixed-income apartment units, as well as the new branch library, was designed by Engberg Anderson, which also worked on MPL’s East Library and upgrades to the Tippecanoe branch.
The Mill Road Library opened in 1970.
Zimmerman Architects has been selected to design the library portion of the project and representatives will be on hand at the meeting, according to MPL’s Sam McGovern-Rowen.
"The meeting on the 7th will be a chance for library architect Zimmerman Architects to share ideas they are developing for the interior of the new library space," said McGovern-Rowen.
"Their design concepts are based on feedback provided by patrons at our first design meeting back in August. Zimmerman will continue to collect input from the community at this meeting to inform their process."
MPL staff and Ald. Chantia Lewis are also expected to attend the public meeting.
MPL expects to break ground on the project in March.
In September, the new Mitchell Street Library – a replacement for the Forest Home Library – opened in a development that also included apartments.
Young Development, the developer selected to build a new King library on King Drive and Locust Street, is currently working on financing for the project.
Locations are currently being scouting for a replacement for the Capitol Drive branch. No RFP has yet been issued for that project.
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.
