A year ago, Stone Creek Coffee announced it was closing its location attached to 88Nine Radio Milwaukee (at 158 S. Barclay St.). The radio station announced today that the space will undergo a $770,000 renovation and expansion to accommodate a new café and eatery that offers a full food and beverage menu, as well as covered outdoor seating. The operator of the cafe/eatery is Chad Meier, the former chef-owner of Meraki, the Walker’s Point restaurant that closed in August 2020.
“Our menu will be eclectic and constantly changing, just like the music that 88Nine plays,” Meier says. “I look forward to sharing some amazing dishes and helping create a casual, creative space to facilitate community connections.”
In a press release, Radio Milwaukee Executive Director Kevin Sucher pointed to the community ties the station’s studio and office building improvements (220 E. Pittsburgh Ave.) would strengthen. “Our latest investment will add to the economic vitality of the growing Walker’s Point neighborhood,” Sucher said. “It will also create new and improved spaces where the community can have a quick bite or camp out for the day to create and collaborate, with food and beverage offerings to help fuel them.”
The renovation will include the following upgrades:
- a 333-square-foot addition to the front of the café/eatery area
- outdoor seating in front of the building covered by an opaque overhang
- three garage doors with windows along the sidewalk to allow partial open-air use of the community room and connections to the outdoor seating
- a kitchen in the back of the café space
- complete remodeling of the café area
The eatery, as yet unnamed, is expected to have 35 seats inside and 30 outside. Construction is scheduled to begin later this year, and the opening is tentatively slated for late February.
But more details are coming down the pike. Radio Milwaukee and Meier will hold a community reception at the station at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec/ 1 to reveal the name and release the eatery’s menu, as well as other details about the project. The reception will also be livestreamed on the station’s Facebook page.
