Construction work on Vel R. Phillips Plaza, a new gathering place in downtown Milwaukee, began in the summer of 2023 and was completed in June of 2024.
As work on the $15.75 million project neared completion, workers were seen at the site – located at 401 W. Wisconsin Ave., across the street from the Baird Center – laying down asphalt and installing a brick sidewalk.
The construction of Vel R. Phillips Plaza replaced a surface parking area with a park, a manicured garden, flex space for farmers markets
and a small building for a food and beverage operation. Later, a public art piece will be added to the site.
City officials hope to attract development to replace the remaining parking lot on the block, and plan to eventually extend the Milwaukee streetcar through the site.
The plaza is a tribute to Vel R. Phillips, a politician, judge and activist, who was the first African American and first woman elected to the Milwaukee Common Council, the first African American judge in Wisconsin and the first woman and African American elected Secretary of State in Wisconsin.