Humboldt Gardens: The Building
In October, I posted briefly concerning the former saloon at the southwest corner of Humboldt and North Avenues after an uncanny windstorm caused a partial collapse of the east façade. After a significant writing recession and a seeming lack of inspiration, the obvious occurred to me as I have never revisited the former saloon: a visual landmark that has been →
The National Soldiers Home: an Architectural Recuperative Village
Looming over the tree line of the Soldier’s Home grounds, an almost haunting tower beckons to the curiosity from its little-known location. Nestled between Miller Park and the village of West Milwaukee, the former National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers stands practically hidden amidst its park like setting. Quite literally a recuperative village for veterans to regain their physical and mental →
Preservation at Stake
Last month I was asked to write a post concerning the Marriott Hotel project for the National Trust for Historic Preservation blog which brings attention to national preservation issues. The article was a summary of the hotel project proposed for East Wisconsin Avenue and its immediate effects, but also focuses on the subsequent precedent that was set by the approved →
In Defense of the Historic Preservation Commission
Milwaukee’s historic structures are our legacy, beacons of our heritage standing as structural documentation of our ancestry and the stories of the generations that came before us. The five buildings threatened by demolition for the proposed Marriott hotel are a significant structural component of Milwaukee’s history; they are irreplaceable. Each loss of historic buildings damages the charm and character of →
Auf Wiedersehen, Gallun
On Tuesday demolition of the vacant Gallun Tannery building began. I had the opportunity to watch some of the first anti-climactic blows that took apart the southwest corner of the building as each muffled crack of the wrecking ball sent a cluster of bricks and mortar to the ground. A portion of the buildings south facing wall was blown off in →
Support Restoration of the East Side Commercial District
A public hearing will be held on December 13th at which time the Historic Preservation Commission is to reach a decision concerning Wave Development’s Certificate of Appropriateness application which requests approval for the demolition of five historic designated buildings and the new construction of a Marriott hotel. Currently, these buildings and their neighboring structures testify to the major commercial artery that →
Saving Follansbee
David Reid of Urban Milwaukee wrote a great article raising points in favor of rehabilitating the buildings proposed for demolition at the southwest corner of East Wisconsin Avenue and North Milwaukee Street including the success of the Iron Horse Hotel and the rejuvenation of the Third Ward. http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2010/10/16/demolish-part-of-downtown-milwaukee-no
Making Way for Marriott
This week the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel brought to light the plans of Wave Development to build a 200-room Marriott hotel downtown at the intersection of East Wisconsin Avenue and North Milwaukee Street. The intent is that the hotel would bring commerce to a largely vacant group of buildings and create 200 full time jobs once the hotel is open; both →
Wind Hastens Neglect of Schlitz Tavern
Another case of owner neglect threatening to destroy an awesome Milwaukee building. It would seem that the ridiculous wind storm that has graced the City of Milwaukee for the last two days hastened what I feared would happen to the old Schlitz Tavern at the southwest corner of North Avenue and Humboldt Boulevard. A part of the east façade that →
What happened to you, Gipfel?
Last week I mentioned the demolition of Gipfel Union Brewery and alluded to its ultimate demise; a relic of Milwaukee’s pre Civil War history that spent its last two years resting on stacked palettes and beams, gaping holes in its shell providing views of the dilapidated interior, the cream brick an enigmatic shade of pale blue, wrapped in steel ties. →