Milwaukee's Ugliest Building: On the Path to Renewal

Join members of the Wisconsin Trust for Historic Preservation on Thursday, September 12 to learn more about the path to renewal for Milwaukee’s “Ugliest Building.”

The free event, co-hosted in partnership with the Historic Preservation Institute and MSOE, welcomes students and local preservation advocates for to an important discussion onsite.

 

Thursday, September 12
4:30 - 5:30 PM | Food, drinks, and socializing
5:30 - 6:00 PM | Presentation and building tours

Location: 324 N 15th St. Milwaukee, WI

Free to attend. No registration required

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Read the excerpt below for more on the building and the renewal effort:

A proposal to convert a long-vacant Menomonee Valley industrial building into apartments has received initial approval from city officials, but still faces an uphill battle.

The plan’s zoning change was approved on Monday, March 25 at a Milwaukee Plan Commission meeting, but the project faces several opponents including nearby businessowners and Milwaukee’s Department of City Development.

Building owner, Ken Breunig initially planned to convert the building into an office building, but at the commission hearing, he said the building’s structural issues prevent it from being able to handle heavy loads tied to office use.

Breunig instead wants to create around 45 apartments with monthly rents of $1,500 to $2,000. Marquette University students and staff would be the primary market, he said, along with people working in the valley and downtown.

The fire-damaged, vandalized building likely has three to five years before further deterioration makes it impossible to renovate, said Breunig, an engineer who’s redeveloped other historic buildings.

Read the full article: City panel gives initial approval to redevelopment of historic Menomonee Valley building

Saving Wisconsin's Sacred Places: Architectural Landmarks | Taliesin Workshop

You’re invited to join the WTHP at Taliesin for a compelling workshop on Wisconsin’s sacred places, held October 25-26.

Saving important Wisconsin architectural landmarks is a fundamental mission of the WTHP. Together with the HPI at UWM, the trust will be offering a two-day workshop on saving churches, temples, synagogues and other sacred places. Topics will be focused on the challenges of proper documentation along with strategies for retention and reuse of these landmark places in towns throughout Wisconsin.

AGENDA
The two-day workshop will include a combination of lectures and discussion groups. As a workshop, participants will engage in hands-on demonstrations of droning, building laser scanning, photogrammetry and object scanning. The Historic Tax Credit portion will include case studies of Wisconsin places that have effectively used tax credits for religious and nonprofit organizations.

The workshop will include an extensive exhibition of drawings and virtual reality devices for an advanced understanding of these landmarks. Site tours of local buildings and places will be included.

Review the full agenda and event information on the workshop homepage.

COSTS
This is intended to be a free workshop with drinks and some food provided. Participants can join for both days or only one with overnight accommodations independently.

The purpose of this workshop, like the other WTHP workshops, is to bring together a variety of preservation-minded people who can share knowledge and success stories with others and continue to make Wisconsin one of the best states for architectural heritage stewardship.

AUDIENCE
This workshop is intended to bring together a wide range of people involved in the art and business of saving architectural landmarks in small and mid-size towns. This year’s workshop will focus on great sacred places.

Local, state, and national organizations will come together to offer the very latest information on a variety of issues. All of them will be related to the struggles that owners, developers, architects, contractors, craftsmen, city officials, and others have with these important landmarks.

Review the full agenda and event information on the workshop homepage.

Architectural Artifacts | Iron and Metals

Join the WTHP and members of Milwaukee’s historical preservation community for the Historic Preservation Institute’s fourth workshop this season.

This workshop will exam several creative ways to deal with historic iron structures. The intent is to dispel the many myths associated with the obsolescence of iron structures, either as buildings or as engineering feats, particularly in brutal freeze-thaw northern climates.

Presentation #1 will document the struggle to save Milwaukee’s unique 1861 iron-clad building and its associated technical challenges. The second will cover innovative programming and design solutions for reusing massive, rusting engineering structures. Presentation #3 will show the saving, scanning, recreating, and reusing of the zinc fountain statue from the 1893World’s Fair in Chicago.

Lecture details:

RESTORING ESTORING THE IRON BLOCK BUILDING IRON BLOCK BUILDING

Scott Hoppenworth - Bond Façade Services

REUSINGTHE MKE RIVER SWING BRIDGE MKE RIVER SWING BRIDGE

John Everitt - Bray Architects

1893 CHICAGO EXPOSITION CHERUBS

Kendall Breunig, Sunset Investors
Amanda Wagner, Davenport Industries