Wisconsin Wonders: Timeline

Building a natural history museum, designing the exhibits and moving millions of collections items is thrilling, and yet a project of this magnitude also requires a considerable amount. While a lot has happened since we announced the location of the Future Museum on the northeast corner of Sixth and McKinley Streets in the fall of 2020, we have many significant milestones before we open in our new location in early 2027. Here's a look at what has happened to date and what we have to look forward to in the coming years.

Designing and building a new museum along with packing and moving millions of collections items is a long process. Here is what's happening in the next few months with this momentous project.

  • Demolition of all three structures on the Future Museum site has been completed.
  • Final site preparation is in progress.
  • A formal groundbreaking ceremony will take place in spring of 2024.
  • Packing of collections items will begin at the end of 2023 to early 2024, starting in our History department storage.

Wisconsin Wonders project timeline