Ronald McDonald House expansion up for discussion tonight

Ronald McDonald House has been running at capacity for at least three years and there have been numerous times when families have had to be turned away, house board member and architect Robert Kramer told the city Plan Commission on Monday.

He was representing the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern Wisconsin in its request to expand the house by adding 37 rooms and a parking structure.

The commission unanimously supported the proposal, saying the house provides an important service to the medical campus across the street. Most of the people who stay at the Ronald McDonald House have seriously sick or injured children receiving treatment at the hospital.

The request will go to the Community Development Committee tonight.

The two-level parking structure would provide space for 110 vehicles, plus there would be a 21-stall surface lot near the house entrance.

The state Department of Transportation plans to build a skywalk from the Ronald McDonald House to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and it would be best to align the timing of the project with the construction of the parking structure, DOT officials said during a meeting of the medical campus stakeholders last week.

The board remains in negotiations to buy surrounding land for further expansion, but this project would take place on the existing property, Kramer said.