Courthouse Annex
The Milwaukee County Courthouse Annex was a five story 447-space concrete parking facility that also housed limited office space. Built in the 1960s, it extended over the three northbound lanes of Interstate 43 (I-43) just north of the Marquette Interchange. On the north façade was a four-story, 76-by-37-foot (23 m × 11 m) mural titled "Whale Commuters". It was donated by artist Robert Wyland, who is known for painting large outdoor murals of whales called Whaling Walls, and dedicated on September 15, 1997.
Following some political controversy between then-Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and the Board of Supervisors, along with an unsuccessful offer by the Wisconsin Film Office to allow an implosion of the structure for any production interested in filming it for a demolition scene, the Annex was demolished as part of the interchange reconstruction. The last section came down on May 23, 2006 after a permit was obtained from the Federal Government to proceed in spite of some nesting seagulls and their eggs.
Upon learning of the impending destruction of his mural, Wyland threatened legal action, citing the Visual Artists Rights Act which gives artists the right to protect their work. According to the contract he signed these rights were waived and Milwaukee County "reserves the right to remodel or demolish the building and/or remove the mural at any time." Since then, Wyland has offered to paint the Wells Street side of the Milwaukee Public Museum, the building he had originally wanted to do. However, as was the original problem, the museum has refused the offer due to the lack of any connection between Milwaukee and the ocean and therefore whales as well.
A small section of the Whaling Wall containing an adult and baby dolphin was removed on May 2, 2006, prior to demolition. The dolphin section and a piece with the "Wyland" signature were installed at the northern portal of the Kilbourn Tunnel at I-43 northbound in February 2007, near the location of the former mural.
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