Convention clean up begins, city goers react to disassembling RNC

A hectic week is over in the city and now it's time to clean up.

As of Friday afternoon, the big 'RNC 2024' sign is still up on Fiserv Forum but it won't be there for long. Closed-off roads are back open and the barricades are coming down after delegates said it was a successful convention week in the city.

"It's been a great convention, great city," said Steve Long, a delegate from North Carolina. "I love the riverwalk, I can see why people like living here."

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Long is spending one more day in Milwaukee before heading back home.

He was there to see for himself how quickly teams got to work taking down convention signs and fences on Friday.

"It was good for security, it was very well managed, very well organized, I'd say," Long told TMJ4 News.

Watch: Convention clean up begins, city goers react to disassembling RNC

Convention clean up begins, city goers react to disassembling RNC

He wasn't the only delegate sticking around after the convention closed.

Anne Rutherford from Maryland made sure her and her delegation stayed an extra night to see the city's sights from the waterway.

"We got a few of us who stayed till Friday so we would be able to go on this river cruise," Rutherford explained.

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She says as clean up begins, convention goers are taking some time to rest.

"I mean, I'm really tired," laughed the delegate. "We had four days of high energy kind of things and it's like decompression now. The things are coming down, and I'm coming down."

In a press briefing Friday afternoon, Mayor Cavalier Johnson told Mariam Mackar the downtown area would be back to normal by Monday.

A welcome announcement for people like Brody Mathison who works downtown.

"I've had a lot of trouble getting in and out of here, I walked the entire perimeter one day and it's like four miles," said Mathison. "I'm glad to see it's leaving"

Despite the headaches with barricades and security those in town for the big week say from their perspective, the city was a hit.

"Milwaukee's been great," said Long. "Y'all did a great job and we really enjoyed just walking around and getting to know the city a little more."

See all of TMJ4's Republican National Convention coverage here.

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