ARTSSee our best photos on the history of the Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory Lou SaldivarThe Mitchell Park Conservatory gardens in 1949. The conservatory was torn down in the 60's to make room for the Mitchell Park Domes.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesMitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory in 1965.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesThe Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory before its formal dedication in 1965.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesFirst Lady Claudia Alta Taylor "Lady Bird" Johnson was in Milwaukee to dedicate the Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory in September, 1965.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesFirst Lady Claudia Alta Taylor "Lady Bird" Johnson was in Milwaukee to dedicate the Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory in September, 1965.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesThe Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory looking north along 27th street, circa 1967.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesMitchell Park Domes Horticulture ConservatoryMilwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesThe moon is seen over the Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory in 1983.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesA 1984 Press Photo shows Mitchell Park visitors with the Horticulture Conservatory domes in the background.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesMitchell park Domes floriculturist Kris Ciombor put some finishing touches on an exhibit in September, 1988.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesMiles Theurich (left) got a traditional fish boil underway while Marion and Ken Bruce of Franklin got a close up view. Theurich orchestrated a dinner for about 150 members and guests of the friends of the Domes in July, 1988.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesMilwaukee County Parks worker Candida Mestayer (left) operates a boom bucket as artist Lynn Burke places Christmas ornaments on a large evergreen at the Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory in November, 1997.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesIron workers Tom Freda and George Schroeder unscrew a triangular window that measures five to six feet from the side of a dome in September, 1998.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesMicah Curd, 4 (left), his stepbrother, Ronald Morgan, 8, and sister Corey Curd, 9, make their way home after an afternoon in the Mitchell Park Domes in May, 2005.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesBill Cozzens of Oconomowoc enjoys a day in the Mitchell Park Domes, running G-scale model trains during the train show in February, 2007.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesNathan Safranek (3) of Pewaukee, waves as a model train passes by while enjoying the train show at the Mitchell Park Domes on February 8, 2007.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesA large Easter lily basks in the sunlight at the Mitchell Park Domes in 2008.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesThe Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory reopened after being closed since June for repair and renovation. Hundreds crowded into the domes to watch the LED light show, and see the new lighting in November, 2008.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesIn 2009, the Mitchell Park Conservatory Domes featured "A Children's Holiday," show that made use of their new lighting.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesDama Garrison, 4, (From left), her sister, DeOnna Garrison, 7, from Racine, Marcus Francis, 8, from Lake Mills, and Zeyden Chapin, 6, of Fond du Lac listen to a presentation at the Mitchell Park Domes on September 20, 2010.Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal SentinelThe Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory prepared for their 2011 Christmas floral show, “Holly, Jolly Holidays.”Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesWorkers prepare to move a Dutch windmill in preparation for the opening of the Mitchell Park Domes show "Tulip Mania" in 2012.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesA group of children enjoy G-scale trains as the trains travel through a miniature landscape as part of The Circus Comes to Town at the Mitchell Park Conservatory in February, 2013.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesContractors inspect the Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory glass panels for repairs on Feb. 4, 2014.Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal SentinelMitchell Park Domes conservatory educator Paula Zamiatowski checks growth on a green roof. The plants and soil on green roofs absorb storm water.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesIn February, 2016, the Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory were closed as county officials launched repairs.Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal SentinelThe Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory was closed after an engineering study concluded the cost of refurbishing the troubled south side landmark could range between $65 million to $75 million, County Executive Chris Abele said during a press conference on February 8, 2016. The work would require massive structural repairs to the steel and concrete membrane that comprise the domes. The facility was closed for the weekend to protect the public and employees from potentially falling debris after a chunk of concrete crashed to the ground in a non-public area. The Domes were constructed in stages between 1959 and 1967.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesThe Mitchell Park Domes at the Mitchell Park Conservatory are closed as county officials consider repairs in February, 2016.Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal SentinelMasonry Restoration uses a specialized spider lift as repair work begins on the Tropical Dome at the Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory in July, 2016.Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal SentinelA concrete beam shows degradation while work continued on the Tropical Dome at the Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory in July, 2016.Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal SentinelMasonry Restoration foreman Ken Glyzewski works on placing steel cable and brackets that will support wire mesh inside the Tropical Dome at the Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory in July, 2016. The mesh will protect the public from falling concrete.Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal SentinelWorkers install stainless steel mesh inside the Show Dome at the Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory in March 2016.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesThe Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory in Milwaukee on September 14, 2016.Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal SentinelThe moon rises behind the Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory in Milwaukee on September 14, 2016.Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal SentinelThe Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory just after dusk in Milwaukee on Sept. 14, 2016.Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal SentinelMitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory Desert Dome was reopened to the public on Oct. 29, 2016. The Desert Dome was decorated for the Ghosts Under Glass fundraising event sponsored by Friends of the Dome.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesA large Easter lily basks in the sunlight at the Mitchell Park Domes in March, 2008.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesRenee Larsen of Greenfield babysits 19-month-old Mikey Hoffmann during a tour of the Mitchell Park Domes in January, 2011.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesAura Grant gets a look at some plants with her mother Andrea in the desert dome in September, 2010.Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal SentinelThe Kooky Cooky House holiday display, once a staple at the Capitol Court shopping mall in the 1960s and '70s, wason display at the Domes in 2017.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesA 2016 file photo shows the aging Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory. A citizens task force was studying whether to restore the Domes or replace them with a new horticultural conservatory.Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal SentinelDave Konieczka gets a strong smell of the newly bloomed corpse flower at the Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory in June 2018.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesPeople tour the Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory “Scrooooge!” Holiday floral Show in December, 2018.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesA view of the Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory desert dome on March 11, 2019, in Milwaukee, Wis. A report recommended tearing down the domes and replacing it with a new horticultural conservatory combined with a relocated Milwaukee Public Museum. They domes cover 45,000 square feet of display area and were constructed in stages from 1959 to 1967.Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal SentinelA holiday show at the Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory in November, 2019.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ArchivesThe Mitchell Park Domes opened with new Covid19 restrictions in September, 2020. Masks and social distancing were required. Reservations and tickets had to be bought in advance to help keep crowds to a safe level. The fall show called The Haunting of Sleepy Hollow included this “The Old Maid” figure.Jovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal SentinelJackson Weber (7) holds his nose as he and his mother Mercedes Weber and brother Knox (4) of Caledonia look at the rare-blooming "corpse flower" inside the Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory in July, 2021.Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Via USA TODAY NETWORKThe Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory in Milwaukee, Wis. on Oct. 24, 2021.Jovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal SentinelThe sun rises behind the Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory in Milwaukee in November, 2021.Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal SentinelThe Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory in June, 2022.Ebony Cox / Milwaukee Journal SentinelThe Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory on South Layton Blvd. in Milwaukee in November, 2023.Mike De Sisti / The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel