Murphy backs Harley Museum
"This is not a Wal-Mart," he says

May 22 -- Ald. Michael Murphy voted with three colleagues on a Common Council committee Friday to move forward with the proposed Harley-Davidson museum in Menomonee Valley.

The vote on the Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee was 4-1, with Ald. Michael D'Amato opposing the controversial project. The vote was not on the design plan, but on basic terms of the sale of city land to Harley and the overall development concept.

Aldermen on the committee obviously were intrigued by criticism of the proposed design and its expansive parking lots.

Architect Linda Keane and others said the proposed development did not fit in with the urban area around it and should be redesigned to do so.

D'Amato said the city did not need a suburban style development.

"The proposed agreement before us is just a bad deal for the city," he said. "It is simply a 10-acre development that would occupy 20 acres of valuable land."

The museum, with its planned massive parking lots, would be between the Summerfest grounds, where its big parking lots are empty for most of the year, and Miller Park, where the biggest parking lot in the state is used about 80 days a year, he said.

Murphy, while acknowledging the critics, said he supported the plan overall: "This is not a Wal-Mart going into this location," he said.

"I understand the issue in terms of the parking lot," said Murphy, who represents Story Hill on the Common Council. "I have some reservations about some of that myself. I've shared them with Harley privately and publicly. I think that's something we'll work through on the detailed plan when that becomes more available."

Building the museum could greatly affect development throughout the Menomonee Valley, which is just east and south of Story Hill. Redevelopment of the Valley will inevitably have impacts on the neighborhood and the entire west side, particularly if Canal St. is extended to Miller Park, as is planned..

The proposed museum site at
6th and Canal

The Harley plan calls for the city to sell 20 acres to the company for $150,000 per acre, netting about $1 million after certain costs are subtracted, according to a city document. The city would also pay Harley up to $7 million for development costs, with the money to be recouped through property taxes generated by the development.

The city also would spend $14 million to move the Traser yards public works facility, something the city has planned to do since 1998.

The project promises benefits coupled with risks, according to a city report.

The benefits include entering a
partnership with a respected, successful local business; development of a potential catalytic project to spur further development and redevelopment in the east and west ends of the Menomonee Valley; the possibility of creating a retaining jobs; and the possibility of an expanded tax base.

The risks include the possibility that Harley won't complete all three phases of the project, and that the city could end up having to market the vacant land, according to the report. There are also no firm limits established to financial risks, the report said.

Murphy said Harley was a good corporate citizen that deserved the city's support.

"This is a company not like Tower Automotive that abandoned our community, abandoned our state to move to Mexico," Murphy said.

He said the development could bring more money to the city.

"If they make more money, that will eventually come back to help people in this community, and I think that's an important consideration," he said.