Civic Space
The Milwaukee County Courthouse is part of a greater civic space that includes not only the immediate area, but also the neighboring Milwaukee Public Museum, main building of the Milwaukee Public Library, and a swath of government buildings running east along Wells Street to the Milwaukee City Hall.
Along the east side of the County Courthouse is a terraced commons area called MacArthur Square. It was dedicated on September 17, 1945 to General Douglas MacArthur, whom attended West Division High School (now Milwaukee High School of the Arts) in Milwaukee. A parking garage was built underneath in 1967, which cuts in to the side of the hill. At the base of the building is the India-America Friendship Park and a statue in memory of Mahatma Gandhi. North 9th Street continues through as a tunnel between the building and parking structure.
Unfortunately, MacArthur Square is most often remembered for its issues with transients sleeping on park benches and noise pollution from the high capacity ventilation of lower parking levels. A large water fountain is unable to drown this out.
Just to the north is the Milwaukee County Safety Building and Milwaukee County Jail. On the southern side of the courthouse is Clas Park, named for local architect and city planner Alfred Clas. The Kilbourn Tunnel, a connecting corridor to and from northbound I-43 at the Courthouse Annex on the west side of the building to Kilbourn Avenue, runs underneath the courthouse and surrounding civic area. It is dedicated to city co-founder Byron Kilbourn.
Read more about this topic: Milwaukee County Courthouse
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