Milwaukee, WI

Baird Center’s structure is engineered for big boats and ‘Jump Around’ – Milwaukee Business Journal

Published

2 years ago

February 22, 2024

Baird Center’s structure is engineered for big boats and ‘Jump Around’ – Milwaukee Business Journal

Mike Vogel’s structural engineering team at Graef designed the Baird Center to be strong enough to carry the weight of a boat show, and stiff enough to avoid vibrations causing a “Jurassic Park” ripple effect in wine glasses if a crowd jumps in unison to a live band’s hit song.

Those are just some of the standards used to engineer the addition onto the downtown Milwaukee convention center. Some of the structural challenges are even more stringent than the demands on a typical arena, for example.

Vogel is a principal and senior structural engineer for Graef, the Milwaukee-based consultant that handled that work for the $456 million Baird Center expansion that is set for a mid-May grand opening.

“It’s really fun to be a part of helping solve society’s challenges, whether it is a large vertical construction project or designing a robot or machine to help us,” Vogel said.

Heavy loads

The addition is designed to feature big, open spaces for its two major convention halls, and Vogel’s team tested to make sure the structure could handle the weight of those events.

“This is long-span that has to take expo center loads, which are gigantic,” Vogel said. “You can imagine a boat show, or a hot tub show with a bunch of tubs filled with water.”

That means the floors of the convention hall are built to handle more weight than, for example, the roof of a typical sports arena. General building code standards require the roof of an arena to handle the weight of its own materials – called “dead weight” – but also up to about 30 pounds per square foot of snow buildup on top. The convention center’s exhibit spaces, by contrast, must handle up to 350 pounds per square foot in addition to their own dead weight, Vogel said.

“That gives them the maximum flexibility to attract events the community can appreciate,” he said.

Graef principal and senior structural engineer Mike Vogel signs a ceremonial beam for the Baird Center expansion.

Graef

Bad vibrations

It’s a whole different challenge to stop those stout floors from vibrating as people walk around or dance, or as bands play music with heavy bass.

That was another factor to consider, since the Baird Center’s second-floor ballroom is directly above its exhibition hall.

“You don’t want to excite that floor so that the lights below start moving,” he said.

Stopping that vibration is a separate challenge in addition to designing a structure to support weight without collapsing, Vogel said. Wisconsin Center District officials wanted the ability to have dinner and dancing in close proximity without glasses vibrating on tabletops, he said.

“Low bass starts to resonate with structure and can excite a structure so it can start to want to move harmonically,” Vogel said. “There’s different criteria if you have a concert and you have a bunch of people doing ‘Jump Around’ and all bouncing in unison. That will also excite a structure. That is very different than somebody walking on the floor.”

The depth of the structure contributes to its stiffness, and also more structural mass will dampen vibrations, for example.

Big numbers

Vogel ran through some of the stats on the materials that comprise the Baird Center’s structure.

It has 6,000 tons of structural steel, or about the equivalent to 12 fully loaded Boeing 747 airplanes. That includes more than 569,069 separate pieces of structural steel, held together by 169,152 structural bolts.

Think of those as the pieces of a Lego set or an Ikea table that haven’t been assembled. Graef designed the structure and created the instructions telling builders how to put them together. Bringing that work in house was among Vogel’s initiatives at Graef that can cut weeks off a project schedule. During the original convention center’s construction, paper design drawings were sent to an outside firm that drew up the assembly instructions.

Builders on the Baird Center expansion used those instructions to tell steel suppliers which parts to ship to the site and when they’d be needed.

“It comes out to about four truckloads, twice a week,” Vogel said. “They get four truckloads of steel. They erect that. They get another four truckloads. They continue until they are done.”

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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee daycare van stolen with kids inside; 27-year-old woman accused

Published

10 hours ago

December 22, 2025

Press Room

Milwaukee daycare van stolen with kids inside; 27-year-old woman accused

article

MILWAUKEE – A 27-year-old Milwaukee woman is accused of stealing a running daycare van that had four young children inside. The accused is Katelyn Librizzi – and she faces the following criminal counts:

Operating a motor vehicle without owner’s consent
Abduction of a child

Case details

What we know:

According to the criminal complaint, a Milwaukee police detective responded around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 16 to an abduction investigation near Appleton and Burleigh. A 911 call came from the owner of a daycare center indicating that a woman “jumped into her van and pulled off with her children inside,” the complaint says. That second person was later identified as Katelyn Librizzi, the defendant.

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A short time later, Milwaukee police conducted a high-risk traffic stop. The defendant was the driver and was arrested. The complaint says four young children were seated inside the van.

When police spoke with the daycare owner, she said she called 911 from the daycare because her personal cellphone was in the van that had been stolen.

Inside the recovered van, police found medical documents listed to the defendant, the complaint says. Investigators also used the daycare owner’s cellphone to get geolocation data, which showed the van’s path.

On Dec. 17, a detective interviewed the defendant who “indicated she had mental health issues,” the complaint says. The detective also reported Librizzi “was making statements and comments that are not typically mentioned in interviews,” the complaint says. Librizzi also told police “she had been driving and saw little kids in the back of the vehicle. The defendant also reported that the police pulled her over. She reported that the can had been running in front of a daycare,” the complaint says.

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What’s next:

Librizzi appeared in Milwaukee County court on Sunday, Dec. 21. Cash bond was set at $10,000. The court also ordered Librizzi to undergo a competency examination.

The Source: Information in this post was provided by Wisconsin Circuit Court Access and the criminal complaint associated with this case.

Crime and Public SafetyMilwaukeeNews

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Milwaukee, WI

South Milwaukee students spread holiday cheer at assisted living facility

Published

22 hours ago

December 22, 2025

Press Room

South Milwaukee students spread holiday cheer

Students from Zion Lutheran School surprised residents at a South Milwaukee assisted living facility with gifts, treats and songs, continuing their annual Giving Tree holiday tradition.

SOUTH MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Residents at an assisted living facility in South Milwaukee received an early dose of Christmas cheer as students and families from Zion Lutheran School delivered gifts, treats and songs as part of the school’s annual Giving Tree program.

What we know:

During the season of giving, students from the school joined family members and church volunteers to surprise residents at Franciscan Villa, filling wagons with presents and handing them out throughout the facility. The Giving Tree is a long-running holiday tradition for the school, built around gift donations for different groups each year, including veterans and families in need.

“It was just fun and happy,” said Ellen Rogers, a student volunteer.

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Rogers spent her Sunday morning alongside friends and family, sharing moments with seniors who staff say don’t always have the opportunity to see loved ones during the holidays.

What they’re saying:

“As a Christian it shows living our faith and being able to give to others especially during this time,” said Neil Schliewe, Zion Lutheran School principal. “With a facility like this having people that maybe their family is far away, maybe their family isn’t able to visit or maybe they’ve lost touch with family.”

Schliewe said the impact of the visit was immediately visible, with some residents moved to tears.

“We saw literally residents crying tears of joy because of not being able to experience that family time during this period of their lives and so being able to have kids from our school and our church, be able to come and do that it’s incredibly special,” Schliewe said.

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What’s next:

After the gift-giving wrapped up, students and staff shared one final surprise, singing Christmas songs together with residents. School leaders say planning for next year’s Giving Tree will begin on Thanksgiving.

The Source: The information in this post was collected and produced by FOX6 News.

Heartwarming NewsSouth MilwaukeeHolidaysNews

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Milwaukee, WI

Fatal Milwaukee shooting early Sunday, 1 dead on city’s northwest side

Published

1 day ago

December 21, 2025

Press Room

Fatal Milwaukee shooting early Sunday, 1 dead on city’s northwest side

article

Milwaukee Police Department (MPD)

MILWAUKEE – One person was killed in a shooting in Milwaukee early Sunday morning, Dec. 21.

According to the Milwaukee Police Department, at about 3:50 a.m., a 24-year-old was shot in the area of 96th and Beatrice, which is off of Brown Deer Road.

Their shooting victim died at the scene.

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MPD tips

What you can do:

Police are looking for those responsible.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Milwaukee police at 414-935-7360 or, to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 414-224-TIPS or use the P3 Tips app.

The Source: The Milwaukee Police Department sent FOX6 the information.

Crime and Public SafetyNewsMilwaukee

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