Milwaukee, WI
Hidden ‘Treasure Island:’ Wisconsin demolition exposes shuttered store
BROWN DEER, Wis. – Take a look in any direction around the FOX6 TV station, and it is clear Brown Deer is growing. The village is amidst multiple major developments that will soon bring new apartments, shopping, and restaurants to Milwaukee’s North Shore. No project is bigger than what’s being called Riverside Landing.
A hidden treasure
What we know:
“All told, it’s going to be probably a four-year build-out,” said Brown Deer’s development director Nate Piotrowski. “It’s such a huge piece of land at really the gateway to Brown Deer.”
As crews demolish what was once here, something unexpected happened.
Demolition of Treasure Island store, Brown Deer
“I said to my husband, ‘Oh my God, I have to stop and get a picture of that,’” said Lynn Hunsicker.
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“And I thought, I haven’t thought of that place in years,” added Cynthia Taylor-Gray.
As an old facade is revealed by the construction of the development, memories have come flooding out.
Demolition of Treasure Island store, Brown Deer
“It never occurred to me the old Treasure Island roof would still be intact under there,” said Karen Spinti.
Treasure Island revealed
Dig deeper:
Discount store Treasure Island opened in the early 1960s. First in Appleton, and then in the exploding suburbs around Milwaukee.
“They had everything from hardware to underwear,” explained Cynthia Taylor-Gray.
Treasure Island won awards for its design. This picture was included in the August 1963 edition of Wisconsin Architect Magazine. Photos provided by Wollin Studios
Taylor-Gray said despite not being in one in decades, her memory has been jogged.
“It felt like acres, just acres of retail merchandise,” added Karen Spinti.
Sprinti recalled getting dither when she dove into the clothes as a child.
Treasure Island in 1963 as seen in Wisconsin Architect
“I remember having to go to the bathroom urgently and not being able to find my mom,” said Spinti.
The Madison Location of Treasure Island as seen in 1963 Wisconsin Architect Magazine
For Lynn Hunsicker, her senses have returned.
“I really remember the smell when you first walked in because it had popcorn and hot dogs,” recalled Hunsicker.
Treasure Island locations included full snack bars located at the front of the store. Picture appeared in 1963 Wisconsin Architect
It’s all coming back, as the store’s old look is revealed again.
But for all the clothes and tools and food for sale, there was nothing more recognizable than what was on top.
“Shop under the squiggly roof,” said Hunsicker with a smile.
Designing The Squiggly Roof
Designing the Squiggly Roof:
The squiggly roof isn’t just bringing back memories for shoppers.
“Frustrating for an 8-year-old, let me tell you. I spent a lot of time in the book section,” said architect Jim Shields.
Shields’ memory is different than most. His parents didn’t just drag him to the retailer, his dad’s employer designed it.
The Milwaukee architecture firm led by Jordan Miller and George Waltz, where Shields’ dad worked as a structural engineer, had a number of high profile projects.
Key players
From Milwaukee’s airport terminal to the downtown post office, it was the firm’s decision to go with an untraditional wavy roof for a retailer that may go down as their biggest hit.
“It’s called folded plate concrete. Normally, concrete is envisioned as a flat slab, or a plate. But in this circumstance, they could fold it up and down. And that gave it long-span capability,” explained Shields.
Courtesy: Dekalb Historyv Center
Branded as the squiggly roof, the design allowed Treasure Island’s massive stores to have fewer beams leading to a wide open floor space. The shape is so unmistakable, the roof was seen in nearly every ad.
“All under the squiggly roof. That was their trademark,” said Merissa Howard with the Dakalb History Center near Atlanta, Georgia.
Courtesy: Dekalb History Center
Howard said that Milwaukee design was soon being exported to her neck of the woods.
“They were absolutely massive. They were over 200,000 square feet, which to put into perspective, is bigger than a Costco,” said Howard.
Courtesy: Dekalb History Center
Known as the Treasury in some states, by the late 1970s, the retailer started to struggle through a recession.
“They were too big. There’s too much competition,” said Howard.
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By the 1980s, Treasure Island’s run was over. The stores closed, and new retailers moved in. Those famous squiggly roofs went away.
They’ve been there all along
Dig deeper:
But if you look close enough you’ll realize those roofs never actually disappeared. Have you ever been behind a former Treasure Island location? It’s worth a peek.
“They had a roof put over the top of it to keep it from leaking. So it was really hidden away,” said Jim Shields.
Shields said most of the locations weren’t destroyed, they were simply retrofitted. The squiggly roofs were hidden under new flat roofs placed on top.
From Appleton to West Allis and Brookfield, a peek behind the buildings revealed the squiggly roofs have been there all along.
New future for Brown Deer
Local perspective:
In Brown Deer, the old Treasure Island’s squiggly roof days are finally numbered.
“It’s full circle. It definitely is,” said Piotrowski.
A new retailer is set to break ground on the site; one that also got it’s start in the 1960s.
“I think the new Target will be successful,” said Piotrowski.
Out with the old, and in with the new. But those memories aren’t as easy to get rid of.
The Source: Information for this post was produced by the FOX6 news team, Barb Weber, The Dekalb History Center, and David Miller.
Brice Turang drove in four runs and David Hamilton had four hits as the Milwaukee Brewers routed the Detroit Tigers 12-4 on Tuesday night.
Despite missing their top three hitters, the Brewers put 19 runners on base and scored in double digits for the second time this season. They have won five of six.
All nine Milwaukee starters reached base at least once, and Detroit catcher/knuckleballer Jake Rogers limited the damage by pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
Detroit lost its second straight after winning eight of nine.
Milwaukee used speed and small ball to take a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Garrett Mitchell led off with an infield single, took second on a walk and scored on Sal Frelick’s base hit. Hamilton beat out a bunt to load the bases.
After Blake Perkins struck out, Turang lined a two-run single to right. Turang, though, got caught in a rundown between first and second and the Tigers threw Hamilton out at the plate when he tried to score.
Detroit loaded the bases with no one out in the fourth, but Grant Anderson relieved Harrison and got Javier Báez to ground into a double play. That made it 3-1, but Anderson struck out pinch-hitter Kerry Carpenter to end the inning.
The Brewers made it 5-1 in the seventh on RBI singles by Turang and William Contreras.
Milwaukee added seven runs in an 11-batter eighth, an inning that included the fourth triple of Gary Sanchez’s 12-year MLB career.
Detroit scored three times in the ninth inning to cut the final margin to eight runs.
The teams continue the series on Wednesday night with the second of three games. Detroit RHP Casey Mize (1-1, 2.78) is scheduled to face RHP Chad Patrick (1-0, 0.95).
West Allis Fire demonstrates using Narcan for opioid overdoses
West Allis Fire Department Assistant Chief Armando Suarez Del Real illustrates how a Narcan nasal spray kit is administered in the event of an overdose.
The number of Milwaukee County residents who died from a drug overdose fell for a third year in 2025, which county officials say is a promising sign that more money spent on harm reduction, treatment and prevention efforts is working.
New data released April 21 show 387 overdose deaths across the county last year, down about 43% from their peak in 2022.
“The work is paying off,” Dr. Ben Weston, Milwaukee County’s chief health policy adviser, said at a news conference, touting the county’s vending machines stocked with Narcan and drug testing strips, as well as a state-sponsored data collection system that helps local health departments understand when and where overdoses occur.
Still, the hundreds of county residents who lost their lives last year to a drug overdose means that work isn’t close to done, officials say – especially as the drug landscape continues to change, presenting new challenges.
“We can’t let our foot off the gas quite yet,” said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.
Drug mixing continues to drive lethal outcomes
Milwaukee County’s decline in overdose deaths is a trend mirrored across the state and the country, following years of climbing fatalities that were deemed a public health crisis.
The county will spend $111 million in opioid settlement funds over the next several years and is already putting what it has received to use, focusing on “reaching residents where they are,” said Jeremy Triblett, prevention integration manager with the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services.
That includes initiatives like the harm reduction vending machines and also knocking on doors, providing county EMS workers with Narcan and seeking the opinions of people who use drugs to shape the county’s strategy.
But officials say they still see a concerning trend of combinations of drugs leading to overdose, particularly fentanyl being cut with stimulants such as cocaine. These mixes of drugs make it harder to reverse an overdose, said Dr. Wieslawa Tlomak, Milwaukee County’s chief medical examiner.
Nearly a third of all autopsies the medical examiner’s office conducted in 2025 were deaths by drug overdose, Tlomak said, and the majority involved multiple drugs. Data show the most common combinations were fentanyl and cocaine, cocaine and alcohol, and opoids and fentanyl.
Methamphetamines are also involved in more overdose deaths than a few years ago, Tlomak said.
For drug users, not knowing exactly what’s in the drug they are getting is one of the most dangerous elements of the current drug landscape, she said.
Fatal drug overdoses were most common among American Indian and Alaska Native residents in 2025, the data show, followed by Black residents. About two-thirds of fatal overdoses were in men, and the median age of death from an overdose was 49, a number that’s been climbing steadily since 2018.
Triblett said the county is focusing on how substances interact with cultural norms in different communities and that a community advisory board is convening to develop harm reduction messaging for specific populations. His team will also host a door-knocking event June 12 to reach new people across the county with prevention and treatment resources.
Madeline Heim covers health and the environment for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at 920-996-7266 or mheim@usatodayco.com.
Drone video shows dug‑up yard at former Michael Lock home
Drone video shows a dug‑up yard at a Milwaukee home once owned by Michael Lock, following a police search for possible homicide victims.
Milwaukee police on Monday, April 20, began digging up a home once owned by notorious Milwaukee drug dealer Michael Lock.
The dig marks another chapter in Lock’s long criminal history in Milwaukee, which has included convictions for homicide, drug dealing, kidnapping, torture and running a prostitution ring.
As of 6 p.m., April 20, police had partially dug up the concrete driveway and yard in Lock’s former home. Lock has been convicted of murders of other drug dealers whose bodies were found under concrete slabs at a different home he owned.
As the dig continues, here’s what to know about Lock:
Who is Michael Lock?
Lock was the head of a murderous criminal organization known as the “Body Snatchers” and one of the leading criminal operators in Milwaukee until his 2007 arrest.
Over the course of a decade, Lock’s organization sold large volumes of cocaine, tortured and killed other dealers, prostituted women across the Midwest and ran a mortgage fraud scheme.
A jury convicted Lock in July 2008 in the homicides of two drug dealers in 1999 and 2000, whose remains were found in 2005 under concrete slabs in the backyard of a home once owned by Lock at 4900 W. Fiebrantz Ave. He has also been found guilty of running a prostitution ring, various kidnapping and drug dealing charges and mortgage fraud.
Where is Michael Lock now?
Lock is is serving multiple terms of life in prison at Waupun Correctional Institution without the chance of parole.
Where are Milwaukee police digging on April 20?
Milwaukee police confirmed they are executing a search warrant at the home on 4343 N. 15th St. in Milwaukee’s north side. City tax records show the property is owned by Shalanda Roberts, formerly Shalanda Lock, Michael Lock’s former wife.
Why are police digging up the yard of Lock’s former home?
There has long been suspicion on the part of law enforcement that there are additional bodies buried under the yard. In 2011, police dug another Milwaukee yard looking for remains.
In that warrant 15 years ago, investigators said at least four victims are buried somewhere in Milwaukee. Before that, police had dug a half-dozen other yards. Police have found no remains in the other digs.
Who lives at the property now?
It is unclear if anyone currently lives at the North 15th Street property. Shalanda Roberts told the Journal Sentinel she owns the property where police are digging, but it is a rental and she lives out of state now.
She said she has no information on the dig and has not spoken to her former husband in years.
Read the Journal Sentinel’s past coverage on Michael Lock
The Journal Sentinel documented the case against Lock in a five-part investigative series, “The Preacher’s Mob,” published in 2009.
You can read the series below:
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