Business Improvement District Board #2 (historic Third Ward) - Regular Meeting

PM. I'm Aldrin Baumann, chair of the commission. Let's call the roll, please.

Anne Piper Iserbrum.

Sally. She oh, oh, oh, she's present online virtually.

Sally Peltz.

Excuse.

Nicholas Hans Robinson.

Excuse.

Patricia Keating Khan.

She's present online.

Matt Jaros.

Here.

Jordan Morales.

Present.

Robert Baumann. Here.

Alright. We have a quorum. First item on the agenda is item one, file two five one two seven six. Resolution granting permanent historic designation to the second German Episcopal Church, Private Brewers Hill National Register Historic District at 140 West Garfield Avenue in the District. Okay, staff take it away.

Yep. Waiting for the slow computer to load the PowerPoint.

So, While you're gearing up, just for everybody watching on TV or present in the room, we are here to determine whether this structure meets any of the criteria for historic designation. Period. We do not consider balancing of interests, costs, uncertainties, potential interference with future use. That discussion takes place at the council level. So the sole issue of today is whether this building satisfies any of the seven or eight criteria set forth in the ordinance.

We make that determination that it does, we're done. If we make the determination it does not, then we're done. So that's what we're here to do today.

All right. So this is the subject property originally built as the second German Methodist Episcopal Church in 1887. In the 1920s, it became Epworth Methodist Church under which it has additional historical significance. This is the location one block off King, one block off of North at 2nd And Garfield. It lies in Sherman's edition plotted in 1837.

I thought I'd throw this in because not many people know in the 30s under the WPA, we had all the city's plat books illuminated With decorative drawings, there's torches on here. You can't really see it well on the screen, but look at the PowerPoint later. There's been no serious change in the footprint over the time. It's been despite some modifications in the renovations in the 30s, it's not moved and there's not been any major additions. Issue of a designation boundary has been brought up for this property as there are three buildings on this tax parcel.

Staff is recommending a boundary for now of the existing lot lines north, south, west and east and a point that is one foot east of the easternmost point of the church. If a certified survey map is filed between now and common counsel, common counsel can amend the file to reflect that boundary. The are not the two houses are not nominated and not being considered. So the history. Congregation formed in 1862 with their first church on King Drive in 1865.

They moved here just off the beaten path. They were felt forced out by the commercial impacts of early 3rd Street commercial retail development and wanted to get into a neighborhood. So they moved just off. Built by Herman Paul Schnetzky, German architect born in Germany and neighborhood builders, the Reason Brothers. They opened in 1888 as a bilingual church with early radio and were an eerily broadcaster of sermons in Milwaukee.

In 1928, Epworth Methodist Church at 4th And Center merged with second German and this became briefly known as second Epworth Methodist because they did not close the original Epworth for quite a few years. It was a typical white congregation at the time and they hired Hugo Heuser to renovate the church in 1939. It is under the Upworth name that Brewery Sill began to have demographic shifts and the pastor of Upworth at that time had this quote in the was quoted in the journal on the matter. A church of this in this type of situation has two choices. It becomes an integrated community church or it relocates.

My position has been that we should become an integrated church of the community in which we operate. They were a little slow about it, but they held true to that statement. They refused to leave the neighborhood directly across 2nd Street is the former Garfield Avenue Baptist Church built in 1950. They lasted thirteen years before moving to the suburbs with that new building. The demographic change in the neighborhood was not for them even though they sold to another Baptist congregation, but an all black Baptist congregation that remains on the site to this day.

As they integrated, Epworth got fairly involved in civil rights, hosting civil rights speakers, black arts organizations for plays and art shows, urban league neighborhood improvement programs, hosted planning sessions for the music MPS boycott of nineteen sixty five. Although they did not house a music school, they did house planning sessions. They were a founding member of North Quiet neighborhood house, which is still a settlement house that still operates in the area, mostly for working on jobs for ex cons these days. They hosted James Farmer, founder of CORE, the Congress of Racial Equality, who spoke at the church 1965 on a day he had come up from Chicago to protest at Juno high join in a protest at Juno High School of MPS. And it was referred to in the journal as a significant civil rights address.

In 1967, they were one of the host institutions for CORE's Freedom Now College program in which they taught black college students community organizing. Unfortunately, Epworth closed shortly after a suspected arson fire in 1972. The fire does not appear to have been very seriously investigated by Milwaukee police. So there is not much known about what happened at that time. The pastor claimed there was a dispute within the congregation and blamed it on that.

So we have two architects on this property. Herman Polschnetsky arrived born 1850, arrived in Milwaukee at 1868, worked for Henry Koch and Maigat Koch, builder of City Hall where we are now. Schnetzky did numerous public schools and had major German clients giving us some of the major components of the Teutonic character of Milwaukee's German architecture. Eithenwalt, St. John's Lutheran, a block away on Broadway, the Blatt's corporate offices.

The Germania Building also nearby, St. Lucas Lutheran on KK in Bayview and several houses in Concordia, This one for an example, the Palmer House. So Schnetsky gave us a Germanically influenced Gothic revival church, which features a vertical emphasis, corner tower, pointed archers, which are the lancet windows, cross gable design cream city brick, which was commonly used in Milwaukee on high status buildings done in the Gothic revival asymmetrical massing with no real symmetry anywhere except the triangles of the gables, but collectively they do not make any symmetry except in small pieces. And decorative brickwork including corbling extensive The The is exterior work. Open.

Heuser The worked for Ferry and Glass, designers of Central Library, worked for Eshweiler. He was a follower of Ralph Adams Cramm, a nationally famous church designer. He designed over 300 churches in the country, 30 in Wisconsin and eight in Milwaukee City limits. Major one that this group would know is Our Savior's Lutheran at about thirtieth in Wisconsin. And under Eschweiler, he does not get much credit for this because it was done under the firm's name, but Heuser gave us the Wattam Spagodas.

He was the Chief Designer for those. Hauser was known for his exceptional detailing. We don't have much for drawings on this one, but much work on extensive detailing on the communion rail even just for the permit drawings. So all that being said, the staff recommends designation of this property under the following criteria. One, its exemplification and development of the development of the cultural, economic, social or historic heritage of the city, state of Wisconsin or The United States.

They had a unique response to suburbanization by refusing to leave the neighborhood. They were heavily involved in civil rights in the Brewer's Hill area at the time and participated in the music school boycotts of MPS in addition to being a modestly obscure sect of Methodist Germans. It's embodiment number five, it's embodiment of distinguishing characteristics of an architectural type or specimen. A rare example in Milwaukee of high Victorian Gothic shows Germanic design influence with the architect's background corbelling and a prominent steeple. Number six, its identification is the work of an artist, architect, craftsman or master builder whose individual works have influenced the development of the city.

Schnetzky was a this one we're hitting twice. Schnetzky was a prominent architect within Milwaukee's German community and contributed to our the Teutonic character of the city with works at Blatt's Brewery, St. John's Lutheran on fleet, F. Meyer Boot and Schuh on Pleasant, Greenfield School also better known today as the West Dallas Historical Society and the Germania Building amongst others. Hugo Heuser is responsible for the Watton Spagoda gas stations, 300 churches across this nation, eight in the city, several state fair buildings and countless homes throughout the city, including ones we have designated like his brother's on Grant Boulevard.

Number 9, its unique location is a singular physical characteristic, which represents an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood community or the city. The church is a contributing property in the Brewer's Hill National Historic District and occupies a prominent corner. Historic Brewer's Hill Association considers the building important to their neighborhood identity as one of the few surviving historic churches in the neighborhood. It is one of the largest buildings in the historic district and is a very prominent example of the use of Cream City brick in the Brewer's Hill area. The staff recommends that the commission find that the designation fills this proposed designation fulfills criteria one, five, six and nine of the ordinance.

Okay. Very questions of the staff report by members of the commission? No. Hearing no questions. Okay. This does require a public hearing. So is there a motion to open the public hearing? So move. Do you have a second? Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Can we do a public hearing? So anyone wishing to provide testimony for or against? Gone up to the table. Give us your name, your address, and whatever testimony you'd like to offer.

My name is Tim Baldwin, and I'd have a prepared statement I'd

like to read off here.

Okay. So hear me okay? 2023 North 2nd Street, Milwaukee.

Very good. Thank you.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Tim. I'm an auxiliary director of the Historic Hill Association and Co Chair of its historic preservation committee. I am joined here today in the meeting here by the fellow Neighborhood Association Board members, Kristen Labs, our President Rachel Markin, our President and Evan Lindberg, also an Auxiliary Director. We are here to express our strong support for the application granting the local permanent historic designation to the second German Episcopal Church at 140 West Garfield Avenue.

This action is a necessary and urgent step to preserve a building important to the architectural and cultural history of our neighborhood in the city of Milwaukee. Our nomination for designation is built on three pillars, its architectural value, its community legacy and the demonstrated threat of irreversible loss. Architecturally, in 1887, early Gothic revival is a contributing historic structure to the Burgh's Hill streetscape and skyline. Its historic massing, pointed arch openings and distinctive brickwork are tangible link to Milwaukee's heritage. As documented in historical reports, the sanctuary ceiling with its many arches and the original choir loft balcony are particularly notable features.

This building is not merely old as one of the few remaining nineteenth century cream cities, Gothic revival structures in the area. The building contributes significantly to the architectural character and history identify of Burroughs Hill or identity of Burroughs Hill. Its story is the story of Milwaukee itself. Founded to serve a growing German immigrant community, it was built in 1887 for over one hundred and thirty eight years. It has served as a resilient anchor to the religious corridor in this community and notably housed the Epworth Methodist Church, which as documented in a 1955 article made a stand to remain as an integrated community church during a period of significant demographic changes.

Later, it served as a new Holy Ghost Tabernacle Church for over three decades. This continuity of use demonstrates the building's strong association with the cultural and social fabric of Milwaukee and its ability to convey a clear historic identity. We are advocating for this designation now because action is urgently needed. The recent submission of a raised permit was a direct catalyst for our application. While the raised permit has been withdrawn, the limited protections currently in place have already failed to prevent damage.

Over time, the building's original stained glass windows, which were character defining features, were removed and are no longer present. This is an irreversible loss of historic merit that local designation is specifically designed to prevent. Without this layer of protection, we risk further alterations that compromise the building's historic character or even demolition, undermining historic district protections. For over forty years, the National the Historic Birds Hill Association has worked to promote properly rehabilitation, eliminate blight and provide an effective voice in governmental affairs. In conclusion, the Neighborhood Association has a strong record of advocating for the preservation of culturally significant properties.

This 138 year old Gothic Revival Church, one of the few remaining examples of this type in the area and a cornerstone of our community's story is precisely the type of structure the Historic Preservation Commission of Milwaukee was established to protect. We have a narrow window to secure its future and therefore we respectfully ask you to grant local historic designation for 140 West Garfield Avenue. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you. Anyone else wish to testify?

Good afternoon. My name is Emma Rod. I am the Executive Director of Milwaukee Preservation Alliance, 1100 South 5th Street, Milwaukee. I don't know that there's anything that I can say that hasn't already been so eloquently stated, but I just wanted to voice our organization's support to the Brewer's Hill neighborhood as well as our support for this designation. As they stated, this is a very important catalyst like many of our nominations that we helped support and bring forward, that these buildings tell a story.

They are critical landmarks to our neighborhoods and is something that is very highly visible. Unfortunately, we never want these to be triggered by a demolition permit, but it seems to happen a lot and that is why we are here today. So hopefully in the future we can kind of combat that earlier, but Milwaukee Preservation Alliance wholeheartedly supports this and we again encourage our commissioners to do the same.

Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else wish to testify? Is anyone here representing the ownership? Do you wanna testify?

Yeah. Will.

Well, come on up.

I'm not representing the ownership.

Well, that We gotta be on the microphone.

So Sorry.

Name and address, please.

For My the name is Cole Kniepel. I live at 2350 North 2nd Street in the Harambee neighborhood. I will say a couple of things just by way of background and why I'm here. I'm the Executive Director of St. Marcus Ministries, which is immediately adjacent to the property in question.

And we recently acquired 124 And 128 West Garfield, which is immediately adjacent to this property. And so we have interest in this property on a number of levels. And I would just ask because of our history at St. Marcus, we have a long history of great relationships with historic preservation and historic buildings, original sanctuary. We've been in the neighborhood for one hundred and fifty years.

In our original sanctuary, we preserved and restored beautifully. We are not callous about these types of structures at all. And in fact, we recently restored the old St. Elizabeth's building on Burleigh And 1st Street and invested millions of dollars into bringing that building back to life. I would ask that the committee pause movement on this until we can do a little more investigation in terms of the structural potential structural issues.

We don't know those are yet, but we'd like to take a look at that and try to figure that out before this committee takes action. I would also mention just by way of my personal investment in the neighborhood, I've lived on 2nd Street since 2001. I live in an 1880s Victorian house that's Cream City brick that's beautiful that my wife and I have restored. So we care deeply about this. I walk past this property literally every single morning on my way to St.

Marcus and pick up garbage on 2nd Street as I walk. So I love this neighborhood. I'm very passionate about it. And we have interest in putting a pause on this for the moment to try to assess how we might be able to partner. And we've had conversations with the neighborhood organization to let them know of our interest and our stance on this. So thank you.

Okay. Thank you.

Ryan Patti, I am the property owner. I was just simply coming in as well. I just wanted to kind of set the record straight and ask for a pause as well. This kind of came through and a vendor unauthorized demo permit and I didn't know of it. It was from a third party in the moment I had heard of it.

I immediately contacted said vendor and had them remove that permit because my actions throughout the city that I've restored tons of old buildings and I generally don't come and knock them down. But that being said, all I'm asking for is a pause. I did receive the 40 page presentation only on Friday. I have not really had adequate time to review that and be able to respond to it with any sort of professionalism or research. And so I'm just simply asking for pause so I have time to review that document with people that maybe know a little bit more about myself about historic preservation.

Okay. Well that's having received the document on Friday that's not an entirely unreasonable request. So you withdrawn demolition permit?

It was withdrawn the moment we found out about it.

Yes. That sounds odd that somebody on your behalf is going

to file a It wasn't on our behalf but I think the demo, a bigger story to this, the process of getting a demo permit should probably be reviewed because it can be done online without the owner signing or anything. So that might be for another day to look at but the demo process should probably be

Somebody can apply to demolish your house without Yes. It at least happened in this case.

Yes. So, you know

What the hell?

Yeah. I was shocked. We we gotta look into that.

Yeah. Look into that. I I was absolutely shocked when when that came through. And the first time I heard about it is when I So

somebody was just pranking you? Is that what he was

No. No. I mean, it it's a long story, but miscommunication between an interested party and Alright.

I'll leave it at that. No. Your your request is not unreasonable. Getting a little extra time, and that'll put us to the next first meeting in January.

Before we conclude this, I'd like to ask a question. Do you know the building pretty well, I assume?

Yes.

Right. And when these things come around and we're in the middle of winter and snow and ice and all that kind of stuff, How is the church right now? Are there leaks? Are there roof leaks? Are there problems that really I hope don't deteriorate by holding this off for a month or two?

No. No. The property has a roof that was done in 2024. So no, there's no active roof leaks. I put in a new $35,000 boiler last winter. So no, property is fine. It's not going

to deteriorate. The

I mean, that's the other. The building has been stripped of so many things. All the windows are gone. A lot of the woodwork is gone. It's kind of a shell of what it was originally when they built it at this point, unfortunately.

When did you acquire it?

We acquired it 2023, early twenty twenty four. I don't have the file in front of me, but not that long ago.

Okay. I'm sorry, go ahead. Yes, I'm sorry. Did you guys go through it physically? Have you been inside No, or anything like

have not. There are photos at Tanzila went through. So there are some photos online. Bobby went through it, okay.

Yes. I brought Bobby through it.

Yes. There is a daycare tenant in there. So it is occupied at least below the sanctuary. I don't know if the sanctuary is getting any use but yes the boiler is on.

So the building is heated?

Absolutely. I mean they

are the tenant. Absolutely. Alright. Have seen no issues holding this essential. So the motion would be to hold this item to call the chair presumably it will be brought back on January 12 at 3PM. So put that on your calendars and we'll see everybody then. Thank you. So there's a motion to close the public hearing right?

Yes. So in favor moved. Say aye. Aye.

Okay and the motion is a hold and call the chair. Hearing no objection to that so ordered. We're adjourned. Thank you.