Eschweilers to come down as Echelons rise: Photo essay

Followers of the Milwaukee County Grounds likely have already heard the sad news: At least two of the four historic Eschweiler buildings are to be "partially" demolished. The Mandel Group, which is in the midst of constructing their Echelon apartment complex in a ring around the site, has plans for all four. The former Administration building is to remain as a centerpiece to the Echelon development. The small engineering building may be converted into a single family home. The dormitory and dairy buildings are to be demolished down to the first floor. The remnants are to be re-purposed as "walled gardens."

There's more to the story, which was covered nicely and very thoroughly by WUWM's Susan Bence & Michelle Maternowski. To read it click on: Striking An Imperfect Balance: Development, The Eschweilers & Monarch Butterflies .

I thought I'd add a few visuals to the story, so I went out yesterday and walked around the entire site to document the current situation:

The Eschweiler Administration building (left), which is to remain, and the northernmost apartment building under construction. View from Discovery Parkway.

The dairy building (background) has had its roof tiles removed. The interior is being gutted prior to deconstruction. The Administration building is on the right. New windows and roof tiles have already been installed.

The apartment building in the northwest corner of the site was the first to get underway and is the furthest along. View from the Monarch Trail.

Workers constructing one of the Echelon buildings (foreground) while other workers remove roof tiles from the Eschweiler dormitory building (background).

View looking southeast from the Monarch Trail of the Echelon complex (left) and the ABB building (right).

View looking northeast from the Monarch Trail of the Echelon complex.

Milkweed pod spreading its seeds on the Monarch Trail.

To see more photos of the County Grounds, go to my Flickr album. 

The Friends of the Monarch Trail and followers of the County Grounds have their eyes on another issue. The section of the grounds known as the east woods, which is located north of the power plant and Ronald McDonald House (see map below), has long been an area of concern as the last remaining segment that may or may not be preserved. I've written about it before, but there will be more to come.