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Remember When...W. Wisconsin Ave. was rebuilt?
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| Title | Remember When...W. Wisconsin Ave. was rebuilt? |
| Description | This photo of Wisconsin Ave. between 3rd and 4th Sts., taken in January 1951, shows work beginning on the $500, 000 renovation of the city's "Magnificent Mile" from the Milwaukee River to 11th St. The avenue from 11th to 27th Sts., immodestly called the "Miracle Mile, " had been rebuilt in 1947, in time for the Wisconsin State Centennial of 1948. Although causing great inconvenience until completed for a grand reopening in September 1951, the second phase of reconstruction was long overdue, and according to a Journal editorial, "will help us look like a big city." Fifty-year-old streetcar tracks were ripped up, all underground utilities were replaced and the sidewalk and the street were repaved. The project was difficult. On Jan.10, crews discovered 19 inches more concrete than they had expected, built up from paving jobs in 1895, 1914 and 1927. Digging out several feet of pavement embedded with streetcar tracks proved only one of several challenges. The Magnificent Mile later suffered from competition from freeways, which lured shoppers away to suburban malls. A writer observed in 1971 that a "garish hardness" was spreading downhill from 9th St. to the river on the once magnificent mile. But projects of the '80s, such as Grand Avenue, did much to bring the Downtown back. |
| Library of Congress Subject Headings | Wisconsin Avenue (Milwaukee, Wis.); Central business districts -- Wisconsin -- Milwaukee; F. W. Woolworth Company; Streets -- Wisconsin -- Milwaukee; Automobiles; Construction equipment |
| Photographer or Studio | Milwaukee Sentinel |
| Publisher | Milwaukee Public Library |
| Contributor | Municipal Reference Library; Bureau of Street Construction and Repair |
| Date Original | 1951-01 |
| Source | Milwaukee Journal |
| Newspaper Publication Date | 1987-09-30 |
| Date Copyrighted | 2005 |
| Type | Image |
| Has Format | Photograph |
| Relation | RW 2110 |
| Collection | Remember When, F. P. Zeidler Humanities Room, Milwaukee Public Library
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| Rights | All rights reserved © Milwaukee Public Library |
| Order form | http://www.mpl.org/coldfusion/email_digital_rw.cfm |
| Date created | 2010-08-23 |
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