October 23, 2009

Milwaukee: Premiere Midwest destination

By Steve Brooks | The American Legion
Convention
Milwaukee: Premiere Midwest destination
Milwaukee CVB

Milwaukee is a premiere Midwestern meeting destination. State-of-the-art convention facilities are conveniently located at Midwest Airlines Center.

Milwaukee is a premiere Midwestern meeting destination. State-of-the-art convention facilities are conveniently located at Midwest Airlines Center. Within walking distance of the convention center is Milwaukee's dynamic downtown, offering a wide range of shopping, dining and nightlife options, the RiverWalk, Water Street Entertainment District, Downtown Theater District, museums, professional sports and over 3,000 hotel rooms.

Milwaukee is an affordable destination, including everything from transportation to ticket prices. The city also gets high marks on accessibility. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal-Sun, Milwaukee is a far better air travel value than its neighbor to the south, Chicago, and has readily available taxi service, limo service and public transportation. Milwaukee's warm hospitality further sets it apart from its competition.

With room rates ranging from economy to deluxe, there's a price to satisfy any pocketbook. But the affordability doesn't stop with accommodations. The restaurant scene offers a treat for the palate and the wallet, and big-city entertainment in Milwaukee comes at small-town prices. Each month, the city hosts more than 150 events, attractions, exhibits and performances; many are available for free or less than $10.

Accessibility. The city is conveniently located between highways 94 and 43, providing convenient freeway access throughout downtown and the outlying areas. The city streets are on a grid pattern, so finding your way around is easy, on foot or by car. The city's public transportation system is also inexpensive and readily accessible, and cab companies provide friendly, safe and affordable services.

State-of-the-art. In addition to being beautiful, the building is a technological marvel. The facility is designed with cutting-edge technology, including highly advanced telephone and data services and an ATM DS3 Internet connection.

Redevelopment. The 130,000 square-foot Harley-Davidson Museum, situated along the Menomonee River near downtown Milwaukee, includes exhibit space as well as a restaurant, cafй, retail shop, meeting space, special events facilities and the company's archives. Opened in July 2008, the museum celebrates the rich history of Harley-Davidson, the passion of its riders and the stories of the employees, dealers, suppliers, company leaders and community members. The experience will extend to outdoor space where visitors can meet to share stories and enjoy the 20 acres of green space adjacent to the edge of the river.

Potawatomi Bingo Casino recently completed a $240-million expansion project - the most ambitious project taken up by the Casino since its opening in 1991. The casino now has an additional 500,000 square feet of entertainment space and a new six-story parking garage. On the gaming floor, the number of slot machines doubled with the addition of 1,500 machines. In addition, approximately 100 additional table games have doubled, and in some cases tripled, the number currently on the floor. New dining options include two new restaurants, a bar/lounge and a food court at the expanded Casino. In addition, both the four-star, four-diamond Dream Dance Steak restaurant and The Buffet have increased in size and moved to the first floor of the Casino. The Fire Pit Sports Bar & Grill also expanded.

Discovery World is the first complex in the nation to connect the natural world, with special emphasis on freshwater resources and the Great Lakes, to the human-made world through innovation, exploration, discovery and technology. Fresh and saltwater aquariums and touch tanks, maritime history displays, hands-on labs, and learning stations and changing displays invite exploration.

The Milwaukee Public Market tempts taste buds with locally grown and organic produce, meat, poultry, seafood, cheese and locally-produced specialty items. This colorful market is located in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward and features an on-site cafй and professional kitchen offering cooking classes taught by Milwaukee's culinary masters. Summer brings an opportunity to experience its weekend outdoor Farmer's Market.

At the Daniel M. Soref Planetarium, audiences can book their own cruises through the cosmos at an eye-popping new $2.6-million facility in Wisconsin's largest and most modern dome theater. An astronomy experience awaits with breathtaking vistas of the night sky, planets, the Milky Way and distant wonders of the universe. The planetarium features a full-color Digistar 3 Laser projection system, ultra-high resolution, state-of-the-art digital imaging and 12,000 watts of surround sound. Only three other planetariums in the world - in New York, Los Angeles and China - are scheduled to get this techno-package.

Bayshore Town Center has transformed one of Milwaukee's popular shopping malls into a pedestrian-friendly destination of approximately 1 million square feet of retail, office and living space, upscale restaurants and inviting green space.

Throughout its history, Milwaukee has proven itself to be a place where people with ethnic roots from all over the world come together to form a community of great cultural diversity. This multicultural population has flourished and grown over the years, influencing every facet of the city's evolving personality and creating the "majority-minority" Milwaukee that exists today.

We invite you to experience a city alive with the laughter, creativity and savvy of people from many different walks of life. Come celebrate the unique cultural traditions and common human aspirations of Milwaukee. Milwaukee's people make the difference, much like other popular destinations, Milwaukee has many things to see and do, including a vibrant arts scene, a wealth of outdoor activities and a wide range of cultural attractions. What distinguishes Milwaukee from other cities is the warm hospitality and friendly attitude of the people who live here. The city's personal touch and heartfelt welcome makes Milwaukee an extraordinary place to visit.

Favorite Milwaukee traditions, such as ethnic festivals and brewery tours, are sharing spaces with many new and exciting developments that are changing Milwaukee's skyline and defining it as a premier urban destination. Two aspects of Milwaukee's state-of-the-art convention center make the Midwest Airlines Center one of the most distinctive structures of its kind. Throughout the building there is $1.2 million in public art, including several elements which are integrated into the building itself. The diverse artwork represents Wisconsin's fascinating history, geography and culture. Milwaukee's accessibility is a key reason groups and tourists continue to choose it as a destination. General Mitchell International Airport, rated one of the nation's top three airports in user-friendliness, is only eight miles from downtown. The airport serves approximately 90 cities with nonstop or direct flights from 14 major airlines. The airport has roughly 230 daily departures. The Greyhound Bus Station and the Amtrak Railway Station are located in the downtown area, just blocks from the convention center.

 

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