On the rooftop of Milwaukee Public School’s Variety/AAA WYMS-FM’s building in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood sits 2,422 square feet of green space. The building, the soon-to-be home of 88Nine RadioMilwaukee, is the latest building in the city to feature a “green roof,” where plants are installed atop the building, creating not only an aesthetically pleasing atmosphere, but an environmentally friendly and sustainability-conscious one, as well, reports Milwaukee Business News.
The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD)’s Regional Green Roof Initiative has been a part of more than 50 green roof projects over the last decade – it’s the only one that shares a rooftop with a 100-person capacity performance space built for live events.
Until now, the community-driven, left of the dial radio station (88.9 FM) has been broadcasting from within Milwaukee Public Schools’ central office facility with the station’s administrative staff housed in a small rented commercial building across that street.
Executive director Mary Louise Mussoline told the paper that the radio station wanted a space big enough to unite the program staff, expand its volunteer and internship programs, and provide space for more live performances, something the two-story, 12,500-square-foot building will certainly have room for when the radio station opens for business there in early September.
“We’re raising $2.8 million, and that covers the cost of purchasing the building, which is $1,175,000, and then the renovations make up the rest,” said Mussoline. “We’ve raised $1.6 million to date, and we have $1.2 million to go. We started (raising the money) last November with a large donor phase and then we started about a month ago with the community. We wanted to give people the chance to participate before we’re moved in. And we’ll continue to raise money once we’re in.”
The green roof portion will cover 40 percent of the rooftop, and will cost roughly $45,000. RadioMilwaukee received just over $12,000 in a grant from MMSD to complete the green roof portion of the project, through the Regional Green Roof Initiative, which reimburses $5 per square foot.
See the Milwaukee Business News story here.
