A Day at the Domes

April Photo Share

I LOVE to go out and do things with my family. Quality time is my love language and where better to spend our quality time than exploring Milwaukee? I remember taking field trips to the Domes, when it was just cool to be able to take a field trip! It’s been a long time since I’ve been there but as I begin to start my journey as a plant lady I appreciate it more. Not only that, but they had their Miniature Milwaukee show set up, and Leo’s obsessed with Trains.

It’s amazing how much I don’t know about the dome. If you’re in the same boat, here are some cool facts about the Domes.

Fun Facts:

• Alexander Mitchell moved from Scotland to Milwaukee and because the richest Wisconsinite. He built Milwaukee’s first horticultural conservatory attached to their mansion in the 1860’s. When he died, the mansion was sold to the Deutscher Club and the name was changed to the Wisconsin Club during WWII.
• Henry C. Koch was a Wisconsinite who served in the Civil War as an engineer. When he came home, he designed the Mitchell Park Conservatory, Milwaukee City Hall, Turner Hall, Pfister, and 700 other buildings.
• Henry Designed the Conservatory in 1898 to pay homage to the Crystal Palace in London. A part of iron work form the original Conservatory  is on display in the Show domes.
• 33 architects from all over the world entered a contest to work on the current Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory in 1955. A Milwaukee architect edit up winning with his 3 “behive-shaped” glass dome design.
• The domes are 15,000 square feet in total and cost $4.5 million to build. There are 2,200 triangular panes of 1/4″ thick wire-embedded glass is in each Dome.
• Because of the glass structure, the domes can get pretty hot in summer months. Each dome has large fans which change the air completely every 3.5 minutes. The clinking you hear when walking through is form the expansion and contraction of the aluminum tubing as the temperature changes.
• In 2006, there was the Falk Corporation blast in Menominee Falls which led to major glass replacements.
• $500,000 of donations in 2006 helped fund major renovations, including lobby renovations and a new LED light system and show.
  
• There are no pesticides used inside the Domes, and the plants are watered by hand everyday.
  Source: Friends of the Domes