Paul-A-R08

I can just picture the architectural drawings for the addition to the old Milwaukee Public Museum: the old entrance is covered over with a façade creating a courtyard space to the East with outdoor tables and chairs under freshly planted trees. The new building name display looms high on the eastern courtyard wall. The clock from the old entrance has been moved to the sidewalk leading into this new entrance to provide a familiar marker that reassures people that no matter how much things change, they can still feel the same.
Fast forward to now, twenty or thirty years later, those nice little trees have grown up. Approaching the museum from the West along Wells street, it is difficult to see just where the entrance is. The trees block the signage on the building entirely; you cannot see the entrance door toward the back of the courtyard until you are right in front of it. Standing on the sidewalk at the street, you have to crane your neck back until you are looking almost straight up in order to see the sign for the museum. My first indication that I was at the museum entrance was the clock which I recognized from the old museum entrance although I did not recognize it through the foliage until I was right up on it. These objects which probably looked great in an artist rendering showing a long view looking west down Wells Street and into the courtyard become totally obscure when you are standing right in front or right under them.
The same can be said of a lot of signage in the museum, particularly in the new sections. I did not notice the sign for the bathrooms/lockers just inside the entrance because they were mounted so high. This probably works well for people at the other end of the large room who can look straight on and see it, but if you are just inside the entrance you have to look well up in order to find them. The same can be said for the signage for the butterfly house which is butted up against the ceiling over the entrance. I can imagine that it is even worse for all of the children who were running around inside the hall that day.