Water to Westown

West of the Milwaukee River, you’ll find the historic arts & entertainment district of Downtown. Today, the area known as Westown includes a number of theaters and arts venues as well as sports arenas, the Baird Convention Center and a number of historic hotels. Also in the district, is the multi-block Grand Avenue Mall (1982) now redeveloped into The Avenue (2018) with updated food hall and shopping.

This tour will explore the recent transformation of a number of historic buildings into mixed-use development with apartments, new coffee shops and gallery spaces and the reinvigoration of office space. Included on the tour is Milwaukee’s large blue building, the Reuss Federal Plaza, now known as 310W (1983), the historic Hotel Wisconsin (1913) and the Pabst Theater (1895).

After the tour, consider stopping into the 3rd Street Market Hall or the new cafe in the Vel R. Phillips Plaza. From June – October, you might check out the Milwaukee Night Market, which happens once a month on Wisconsin Ave.