Wisconsin Builder | City Lights

PATIENCE PAYS OFF

Racine's 20-year redevelopment shows results

Art museum, Johnson Building add glimmer to downtown

By Jessica Gosz

Bukacek Construction Inc. of Racine works on the Racine Art Museum in the winter of 2002. Bukacek started the project in April 2001 by gutting the existing M&I Bank building. The museum is scheduled to be open to the public in May 2003.

Photo courtesy of Racine Art Museum

Patience has been key for the city of Racine during its redevelopment period, a transition that has been ongoing since the mid-1980s.

"You have to have a lot of vision and realize that things are not going to happen in a few years," said Nick Bukacek, president of Racine-based Bukacek Construction Inc., the contractor for many of the recent projects.

Bukacek said the initial redevelopment about 20 years ago included a harbor and some buildings. Gaslight Point was developed in the 1990s, and in 1999, Racine completed the Downtown Racine Development Plan with an objective to make the downtown a hub for expanded business and entertainment.

The downtown now has more than $100 million in new investment announced and under construction.

"This is the result of two decades of things materialized," Bukacek said. "The first couple (phases) spearheaded, and this is the finishing touch."

The current redevelopment plan includes Johnson International and the Racine Art Museum.

Bukacek said an exciting aspect of this surge of redevelopment is that a lot of the construction has been historical renovation of buildings in need of restoration.

Starting fresh

This model shows the southeast side of the Racine Art Museum. Brinistool + Lynch of Chicago designed the new 40,000-square-foot museum. The building is being built with translucent acrylic panels that allow natural light to illuminate it during the day, and the panels let the structure glow in the evening.

Photo courtesy of Racine Art Museum

Brad Lynch, design principal for Brinistool + Lynch, the Chicago-based architectural firm working on the Racine Art Museum, said the project is unique because it's a complete gut of an existing structure, the M&I Bank of Racine building. But that's not the only unique aspect of the project.

"Translucent acrylic panels will form the façade -- separated from the exterior surface -- allowing natural light to illuminate the building during the day and glow in the evening," said Lynch, who added that the panels, when illuminated at night, look like a Japanese lantern.

The translucent glass can also cut down natural light, keeping ultraviolet rays out and the art safe. By keeping natural light out, large-scale ceramics can actually be displayed.

"The lighting is beautiful and subtle," said Bruce W. Pepich, executive director of the museum and curator of collections.

The large amount of glass used for the project allows people from the outside to look into the museum and view art and also see the lake through the building.

"The museum's design offers the downtown something that is quite different than anything else in the area," Lynch said.
Pepich agreed.

"It's going to become a major attraction to the downtown," he said. "People can drop into the museum store, look at exhibits and have lunch."

Workers started construction on the 40,000-square-foot building in April 2001. The museum store will open in November 2002, and the estimated cost of the project is between $6 million and $6.5 million, Pepich said.

Rounding out the downtown

Another new addition to Racine's downtown, the Johnson International Office Building, was finished at the end of April. M.A. Mortenson, Brookfield, was the general contractor for the project, which began in July 2000.

This rendering of the south elevation of the Racine Art Museum shows the large windows that dominate the front of the building. From outside, one can see the art inside while viewing the lake through the building.

Photo courtesy of Racine Art Museum

Jeff Neumann, construction project manager, said the company used green-building techniques to make the structure environmentally friendly. Natural daylight is used in most offices, and computer sensors help determine the sun's direction to control heat and glare.

"(The building) is a major cornerstone of redeveloping the downtown," Neumann said.

He said the site began as a brownfields site; it was an old parking lot that contained contamination.

"It's developed into a nice building that can bring economic stimulus to the downtown," Neumann said.

Kewpee's Restaurant, which has already been completed, is another unique fixture in the downtown area.

"We tried to provide something reminiscent of the original restaurant, which dates back to the 1930s," said Ryan Rudie, president of Butterfield, Rudie and Seitz, project architect for the restaurant. "There is an art deco flavor on the outside and inside."

Rudie said the original restaurant was built under a parking ramp. The ramp and restaurant were torn down and the new restaurant resides on the site. Rudie said if the restaurant had left the site, it would have hurt the city.

"It's a very unique restaurant that draws people in," he said. "It's not your typical hamburger joint."

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