I picked up the phone and a voice rang out, “One of the Domes caved in, taking out six people and a blind person’s dog!” I looked at my phone in disbelief. “I’m just kidding. It is falling apart though, and may need to be demolished,” said the voice of my relative. I didn’t think the joke was funny, nor was the seriousness of actual chunks of concrete reportedly falling from one of the Dome’s ceilings, something like 84 feet.  This was an intense subject.

Now, after a short conversation then hanging up, I began mulling over what that historical Milwaukee landmark meant to me and my family. My mind trickled back to 1976, when I can clearly remember going with my grandmother, mother, grandfather and aunts for the first time.

I thought the place was something from a sci-fi movie and I can recall being extremely excited. Every single Dome was like being pulled into another world. Was it only because I was young and that it was 1976?  I loved the Domes.

Thinking I should ask a little person if the feeling was mutual, I started with the person standing closest to me, my 9-year-old daughter. “Meliya, what do the Domes mean to you?” She looked up at me and said, “You mean the three, silvery, giant boobie, special spaceship buildings that show aliens that we are pro-alien friendly?” This time, I laughed at the joke because kids say the darndest things.

My goodness, she will be 10 on April 30, but she’s going on 30. I nodded.  She perked up her voice and burst out, “I love that place. It’s a magical black hole of different universes. When are we going again? Hey! Remember that time we went and…” and so started her memories to rolling. She had a king’s scroll worthy and I had a six-CD set of recollections of my own.

Laughing and recalling, we both shuddered to imagine the whole glass kingdom of plants could be gone.  We still love the Domes.

The Domes is something we cannot let go. It is a majestic masterpiece that is still structurally sound, but sources like JSOnline who say that quality repairs could cost up to $75 million.

Would it help if it were for a huge, three–cup, supportive bra? I don’t think so. This is so much more complicated than that. In fact, I suspect this to be a meticulous and intricate task that will take a few years to clear. Who knows? What is certain, though, is that the issue is up for debate, whether to close the book on our beloved county treasure.

Now, would I as a resident pay an extra fee to help repair the building to last 100 years into the future? Why not? I didn’t have a choice when I helped pay for the new stadium that I most certainly love.

Admit it. You love the Domes. Let’s save it.

There is a conversation about doing just that titled, “Preserving the Mitchell Park Domes,” and you can learn more about it online.

Yes, I would pay. Especially if there were a matching fund campaign, something clever like, “Domes and Homes,” to help repair abandoned houses all over Milwaukee for low-income people to buy a structurally sound home of their own.

That way, they’ll have the extra money to help pitch in by visiting local county landmarks, new dynamic DOMES included, thereby keeping new memories alive, and possibly, friendly, alien visitors welcomed.