Milwaukee City Hall

The Milwaukee City Hall is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was finished in 1895,[2] and was Milwaukee's tallest building until completion of the First Wisconsin Center in 1973. In 1973 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[3]

Milwaukee City Hall
Location within the United States
Record height
Tallest in Wisconsin from 1895 to 1973^[I]
Preceded by	Pabst Building
Surpassed by	U.S. Bank Center
General information
Type	Municipal office
Architectural style	Flemish Renaissance Revival
Location	200 E. Wells St. Milwaukee, United States
Coordinates	43.0417°N 87.9098°W
Completed	1895
Height
Roof	353 ft (108 m)
Technical details
Floor count	15
References
[1]

Design

Interior atrium of City Hall

Milwaukee City Hall was designed by architect Henry C. Koch in the Flemish Renaissance Revival style,[2][4] based on both German precedent (for example, the Hamburg Rathaus or city hall), and local examples (the Pabst Building, demolished in 1981). Due to Milwaukee's historic German immigrant population, many of the surrounding buildings mirror this design. The foundation consists of 2,584 white pine piles that were driven into the marshy land surrounding the Milwaukee River.[5] From that base, the main block of the building rises eight stories, with the massive tower at the end rising to 350 feet, with its clock faces flanked by four "beer stein" turrets, and topped by a copper-clad spire.[6][3] The upper part of the tower was rebuilt after a fire in October 1929.[4]

The bell in City Hall was named after Solomon Juneau, Milwaukee's first mayor.[7] It was designed and crafted by the Campbells, who were early pioneers in creating diving chambers and suits near the Great Lakes area during that time.

History

Milwaukee City Hall
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
City Hall in 1901
Location	200 E. Wells St. Milwaukee, United States
NRHP reference No.	73000085[8]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	March 14, 1973
Designated NHL	April 5, 2005[9]

City Hall was the marketing symbol of Milwaukee until the completion of the Calatrava wing of the Milwaukee Art Museum in 2001, but the bell tower continues to be used as a municipal icon and in some traffic and parking signs. Formerly the tower's front three sides were secondarily used as a lighted marquee, using three tiers of letters with various messages to welcome visitors, conventions and events, along with featuring messages timed to a holiday or achievement. An image of the City Hall marquee containing Welcome Milwaukee Visitors was one of the iconic images of the opening sequence for locally-set sitcom, Laverne & Shirley. The marquee was removed in 1988, and its letters were donated to the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design in 2012.[10]

From 2006 to 2008, the entire building was renovated, including a complete dis-assembly and reassembly of the bell tower, by J. P. Cullen & Sons, Inc., a construction manager and general contractor headquartered in Janesville, Wisconsin.[11] Before the restoration began, the bell was rung rarely because of seismic concerns, and in the last few years an assembly of scaffolds with protective coverings had been in place around the building to protect pedestrians from falling stone and brickwork. The quality of the US$60,000,000 restoration was the subject of a lawsuit filed by the city of Milwaukee in 2012 against various parties involved in the work.[2]

City Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and declared a National Historic Landmark in 2005.[2]

See also

• List of skyscrapers
• List of tallest buildings in Milwaukee

References

1. Milwaukee City Hall at Emporis
2. Porter, Caroline; Keeling, Ben (March 25, 2013). "Renovation of City Hall Prompts Milwaukee to Sue". The Wall Street Journal. p. A6. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
3. "Milwaukee City Hall". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
4. A brief history of City Hall Archived 2009-05-13 at the Wayback Machine
5. "Milwaukee City Hall". Archived from the original on January 6, 2009. Retrieved April 30, 2009.
6. Mary Ellen Wietczykowski; Donald N. Anderson (1972-07-11). NRHP Inventory/Nomination: Milwaukee City Hall. National Park Service. Retrieved 2019-12-29. With nine photos.
7. "Basic Facts About City Hall". Retrieved 2020-04-21.
8. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
9. "Milwaukee City Hall". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
10. "Milwaukee City Hall Letters". Milwaukee County Historical Society. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
11. "News Releases | Associated General Contractors".

External links

• A brief history of Milwaukee and City Hall
• City Hall Restoration Project
• National Historic Landmark nomination (PDF)
• Emporis page
• Fixing City Hall won't come easy
• Questioning the Merits of Propping Up City Hall