Cool Is Coming

And this time I’m not talking about the weather.  See the white triangle in the photo above?  If you have walked or ridden on the Eisenbahn State Trail lately, then you may have wondered whether downtown West Bend were about to host some kind of discus throwing championship.  But actually the lines represent the proposed location of the new and improved Museum of Wisconsin Art.  The museum has outgrown its current location next to the library and envisions an ultra-modern replacement.  The new building would be an important piece in the city’s effort to redevelop the corridor east of the Milwaukee River and would link to the Eisenbahn with a new pedestrian path.  Another important piece in the redevelopment of the corridor will be a new covered bridge—to replace the vestigial Fields Furniture bridge—linking the Eisenbahn to Main Street.  Both of these projects took a big step forward yesterday with the announcement of a $407,120 grant.  In the end the corridor will be a bike- and pedestrian-friendly place with the Eisenbahn serving as its main thoroughfare.  And it will have an interesting mix of old and new: the museum’s sleek lines will counterbalance the Victorian charm of the train station and the relocated, remodeled and now re-opened Binkery restaurant.  I don’t need any more incentive to travel the Eisenbahn, but I expect these new attractions will introduce the trail to a lot of people who haven’t yet experienced it.