MILWAUKEE COUNTY

Hemp growing in the Mitchell Park Domes? Advocates say it could save county facility from the wrecking ball

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Should the Mitchell Park Domes be used to grow hemp?

Advocates told Milwaukee County officials Monday that hemp production could save the Domes, which have fallen into disrepair in recent years, and bring in serious cash for the county.

County Supervisor Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, who requested a study about the feasibility of growing hemp at the Domes, encouraged using one of the Domes to grow hemp "clones" in order to help save the facility.

"When you're growing hemp, you can't look at one size fits all," she told members of the county's Parks, Energy and Environment Committee.

But the study raised questions about costs associated with hemp production in the Domes, such as grow lights and additional staffing needs.

One response to a request for information about what to do with the greenhouse facility was a business plan for a commercially viable hemp production operation, James Tarantino, director of recreation and business services at Milwaukee County, told the committee.

It would take a $200,000 investment in grow lighting and staff time and labor, he said. He also said there would likely be higher energy costs because of the grow lighting.

There aren't good examples, especially within government, of the kind of Grow Education Resource Center about which the County Board requested information, he said. If the focus of such a center were to be on research, it would require a stronger partnership with an entity such as the UW-Extension, he said.

Tarantino also said a report from Cornell University concluded that hemp is an industrial crop that requires a lot of land to be commercially viable.

"Clearly, the Domes' greenhouse is not that site for that type of an operation," he said.

But advocates questioned the study's findings.

Ortiz-Velez said some things in the study were accurate, but others were not. And she compared hemp growing at the Domes to beer gardens at other county parks, stressing the need for private-public partnerships.

Patti Zanin, founder of Colorado Hemp Xchange, said the Domes could clear at least $1 million in profit per year by growing hemp in one Dome alone.

The money could be used to help save the Domes, which have recently had issues with falling concrete debris. Last month, a firm hired by a county task force recommended demolishing the three glass beehive-shaped structures, which have dotted the city's skyline for decades.

"I thought they were one of your landmarks for the city," Zanin said. "It would be a shame to see anything happen to them. And here's a perfect opportunity to turn them into cash flow, and rebuild them back to their original elegance."

Asked if growing hemp could save the Domes, state Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, said it could prove to be a windfall for Milwaukee.

"It will save the parks. It will save Milwaukee County," Taylor said. "It will save the City of Milwaukee."

Hemp is a close relative of marijuana but includes only trace elements of the chemical that makes people high.

The Domes have faced an uncertain future for years.

The Milwaukee County Museum Task Force last year commissioned a study on the feasibility of joining the Milwaukee Public Museum and the Domes in one new building.

In a report submitted earlier this year, Gallagher Museum Services recommended knocking down the Domes and building a 222,000-square-foot structure to house both the Public Museum and the horticultural exhibits on the footprint of the Domes, linking into the current greenhouse. The estimated price tag was $300 million.

What the proposed new Domes/Museum building would look like, or whether the cacti, palm trees and poinsettia plants would reside in a new set of domes, was not included in the report.

The proposal comes as Ald. Khalif Rainey has been pushing for industrial hemp production at Century City on the city's north side.