Surpassed by Park Row Building Completed 1895 Phone +1 414-286-2150 | Type Municipal office Height 108 m | |
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Preceded by Manhattan Life Insurance Building Architectural style Flemish Renaissance Revival Location 200 E. Wells St. Milwaukee, United States Address Milwaukee Common Council, 200 E Wells St, Milwaukee, WI 53202, USA Hours Closed now Wednesday8AM–5PMThursday8AM–5PMFriday8AM–5PMSaturdayClosedSundayClosedMonday8AM–5PMTuesday8AM–5PMSuggest an edit Similar US Bank Center, Rockwell Automation Headqua, Basilica of St Josaphat, 100 East Wisconsin, Wisconsin Gas Building | ||
Milwaukee city hall bell tower tour
The Milwaukee City Hall is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was finished in 1895, at which time it was the third tallest structure in the United States. The city hall's bell tower, at 353 feet (108 m), made it the third tallest structure in the nation, behind the Washington Monument and Philadelphia City Hall. The Hall was Milwaukee's tallest building until completion of the First Wisconsin Center in 1973.
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Milwaukee city hall honor award
Design
Milwaukee City Hall was designed by architect Henry C. Koch in the Flemish Renaissance Revival style, 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. The upper part of the tower was rebuilt after a fire in October 1929.
The bell in City Hall was named after Solomon Juneau, Milwaukee's first mayor. 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
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 had a Welcome Milwaukee Visitors message on the front three sides; this was one of the iconic images of the opening sequence for locally-set Laverne & Shirley.
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. 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.
City Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and declared a National Historic Landmark in 2005.