On the corner of East Wisconsin Avenue and North Water Street resides the Iron Block building. Built in 1860, the building is nestled among mid-century brick, concrete, and glass curtain wall mid-rise and high-rise buildings. The Iron Block is a low-rise building situated in a vertically-dominated environment that attracts the eye upward. Despite its short stature, the Iron Block’s ornamental and intricate iron-cast Renaissance Revival façade delivers a bold presence that holds one’s gaze not far above the horizon.
The Iron Block building is over a century and half old building and is centrally located at the heart of the city. It has seen Milwaukee grow from a town of 45,246 people in 1860 to a large city with a population of nearly 600,000 in 2015. In that time the façade has become a one of a kind in Wisconsin. However over its lifetime the building has gone through several phases and numerous owners, In 1983 the owner was foreclosed on and fell into a poor state. In 2012 City of Milwaukee considered to demolish the building due to the condition the building was in. However around the same time, a family-owned dental group, Dental Associates, had been looking to move their business’s headquarters from Wauwatosa to Milwaukee, where they had opened their first clinic in the 1970’s. The company decided to purchase the Iron Block and go through a grueling two year restoration and renovation process rather than demolishing the Iron Block and building anew. This change of ownership also marked a change in the building’s business nature, since in the past it housed up to 25 different offices, studios, stores, clinics, and a bank. Today, the Iron Block houses two tenants: the corporate office and clinic of Dental Associates and a FedEx Store. |
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While the "Iron Block" currently is home to corporate offices and apartments, it's former residents made a lasting impact on the area. When the city of Milwaukee was in it's infant stages, the building was home to one of the first banks in the center of Milwaukee. While the bank may have not survived, it was influential in that other banks were located nearby and created what is known as the finical district of Milwaukee. Which is still true to this day.
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Project 1
No text for this project
Project 2
If you look at a current map of downtown Milwaukee, you might notice that the city’s districts home some of the Wisconsin’s greatest architectural treasures that have been meticulously preserved and or restored to their original glorious state; buildings with a past that shaped the city to what we know it today. Just to name a few districts with such significant value, Bay View and the Historic Third Ward were shaped around what are now historical establishments, and the districts themselves at the present are recognized as historical heritage sites. On the same note, the city’s financial district has a similar tale of how it came to be. In 1861, on the corner of East Wisconsin Avenue and North Water Street, downtown Milwaukee, a building known as the Iron Block was raised and it occupied various offices along with a bank on the street level; it was one of the first financial institutions in the neighborhood. Although, nowadays there is no bank in the Iron Block, the one it housed in the past served as a foundation to the expansion of local financial institutions years ago, which were later procured by larger national institutions such as Chase, M&I, U.S. Bank and more. As illustrated in the map of the Surrounding Banks Map relative to the Iron Block’s location, it is evident that the building’s past had shaped its immediate landscape, the current financial district of the city. Presently, the major banks in the city seem to follow a certain pattern, spreading throughout the city as if they are rippling outward from a central focal point, and at that point is the Iron Block.
In addition to the latter, the Iron Block had been placed in the National Register of Historic Places as a historic building monument since 1974; it was also named a local historic place in Milwaukee along with the site on which it rests. Unfortunately, it is the last cast–iron façade building in Wisconsin and one of the few remaining in the Midwest, which makes it more valuable. At the time that it was built, it was the second tallest iron-cast façade building in the world, two stories shorter than the tallest cast-iron façade buildings that was located in Manhattan, New York. Examination of the Historical Context map can provide one a better perspective on how few heritage sites our city has. In retrospective, when we initially visited the site, we noticed how dwarfed the Iron Block is by its neighboring buildings, which is proven in the Surrounding Buildings’ Height map. The building and the street around it are covered throughout most of the day by the shadows of the surrounding buildings, as shown in the Building Shadows map. Even the Iron Block itself expanded, though not vertically, to the neighboring building to the south in order to house its growing programs, as is evident in the Sanborn maps of Milwaukee that demonstrate the expansion from the map in 1894 to the map of 1910; notice how the building plan grows through the years. Over time, banks in the area also stretched to meet the ever-growing demand for office space, as can be seen by the 22 floor Chase Tower to the west of the Iron Block. Furthermore, it can be exemplified by the multi-office use 37 floor Wells Fargo Bank in the E. 100 Wisconsin Tower and the 42 floor U.S. Bank building several blocks to the east of the Iron Block. The programmatic growth of banks could be the reason why the bank in the Iron Block left the building, which was unable to house its demand. As for the city’s general growth, the Surrounding Buildings’ Height map also indicates the location of parking structures that serve the increasing demand of both residents and job commuters within the area; parking structures with greater square footage or height than the Iron Block.
Sadly, when compared to the demographic maps of the area, it reflects poorly on the city’s civil progression; Milwaukee is the most segregated city in the United States. The demographic maps, labeled Caucasian Population, African American Population, Hispanic American Population and Asian American Population, indicate that the area lacks diversity, since the majority of the population in the area are Caucasians, with a couple of predominant African American blocks to the northeast and northwest of the map. This was also evident in our tour of the site, thought there seemed to be a little integration, it felt as if minorities came downtown for work rather than to reside.
In addition to the latter, the Iron Block had been placed in the National Register of Historic Places as a historic building monument since 1974; it was also named a local historic place in Milwaukee along with the site on which it rests. Unfortunately, it is the last cast–iron façade building in Wisconsin and one of the few remaining in the Midwest, which makes it more valuable. At the time that it was built, it was the second tallest iron-cast façade building in the world, two stories shorter than the tallest cast-iron façade buildings that was located in Manhattan, New York. Examination of the Historical Context map can provide one a better perspective on how few heritage sites our city has. In retrospective, when we initially visited the site, we noticed how dwarfed the Iron Block is by its neighboring buildings, which is proven in the Surrounding Buildings’ Height map. The building and the street around it are covered throughout most of the day by the shadows of the surrounding buildings, as shown in the Building Shadows map. Even the Iron Block itself expanded, though not vertically, to the neighboring building to the south in order to house its growing programs, as is evident in the Sanborn maps of Milwaukee that demonstrate the expansion from the map in 1894 to the map of 1910; notice how the building plan grows through the years. Over time, banks in the area also stretched to meet the ever-growing demand for office space, as can be seen by the 22 floor Chase Tower to the west of the Iron Block. Furthermore, it can be exemplified by the multi-office use 37 floor Wells Fargo Bank in the E. 100 Wisconsin Tower and the 42 floor U.S. Bank building several blocks to the east of the Iron Block. The programmatic growth of banks could be the reason why the bank in the Iron Block left the building, which was unable to house its demand. As for the city’s general growth, the Surrounding Buildings’ Height map also indicates the location of parking structures that serve the increasing demand of both residents and job commuters within the area; parking structures with greater square footage or height than the Iron Block.
Sadly, when compared to the demographic maps of the area, it reflects poorly on the city’s civil progression; Milwaukee is the most segregated city in the United States. The demographic maps, labeled Caucasian Population, African American Population, Hispanic American Population and Asian American Population, indicate that the area lacks diversity, since the majority of the population in the area are Caucasians, with a couple of predominant African American blocks to the northeast and northwest of the map. This was also evident in our tour of the site, thought there seemed to be a little integration, it felt as if minorities came downtown for work rather than to reside.
Project 3
Interview:
We had the pleasure of interviewing the charming and pleasant in-house architect of Dental Associates, Mark Demsky, that worked on the restoration of the Iron Block from 2012- 2014. He has been working for Dental Associates for the past 6 years, joining the family owned dental group, the largest in Wisconsin, a year after the current owner, Dr. Manos, took over ownership of the business from his uncle, Dr. John G. Gonis that started it in 1973. Dr. Manos envisioned the expansion of the business from seven clinics throughout the state to fifteen including current under construction locations; he also wanted to transfer the corporate office of the company from Wauwatosa back to Milwaukee where his uncle opened the first clinic in the 70’s. According to Mark, Dr. Manos and he received word of the Iron Block building that was up for sale by the bank that seized it from its previous owner, so, they decided to tour the building; it was abandoned for the most part, in a dilapidated condition and its mechanical and electrical systems were all shot. The last time that the building was renovated was in 1983. Even though the price was low, it was still not enough of an incentive to restore the building because the cost of it would be too high, and attempting to tear it down would bring the resistance of the Historic Milwaukee Society which was deeded the landmark façade of the building in the 1980’s. In addition, it would have brought bad publicity for the company in the eyes of the public. So, Dental Associates decided to apply for Federal and State historic tax credit programs, which are managed by the Department of Interior of the National Park Service (NPS). Each, the State and Federal programs ended up reimbursing them with 20 percent of the cost of the restoration, a total of 40 percent, which is an incredible incentive for developers to preserve, restore and renovate buildings rather than demolish historical monuments. Thereafter, Dental Associates purchased the building, and changed its fate, for the city of Milwaukee was weighing the option of demolishing the dilapidated landmark and making a better use of the lot prior to their inquiry; business and population growth have increased the vertical datum in the city center and the Iron Block does not meet those demands. Since they opted for historical tax credits, the company was obligated to follow certain guidelines for restoring the building and challenges were abundant. For starters, iron-cast facades are not made any more, and local iron workers were unwilling to work on custom made patterns, though eventually, a local smith from Kenosha took on the challenge and helped construct 4,200 new hollow iron-cast pieces out of 97 patterns that amounted to roughly 30,000 lbs. of iron. In addition, two months after the purchase of the building, a piece of the façade collapsed onto the sidewalk in the presence of a local reporter that informed the public of the incident. Consequently, since they were not allowed to close off the sidewalk, and their remaining tenant, FedEx, would not move out during the renovation, the construction team had to install scaffolds around the building and wrap plastic sheets to prevent from any additional debris from falling on top of bystanders. All the while, they had to sandblast the flaking paint and rust off of the building in winter, which required pumping constant heat and vacuuming any residue from falling onto the sidewalk. The sandblasting process was done in sections so immediately after a zinc primer could be applied to prevent from the oxidization of the façade. After a yearlong process of restoring the exterior of the building, a challenging yearlong process of renovating the interior began; it entailed the complete gutting of the building from the brick and timber structure that was replaced by steel members to increasing the size of the century and a half old small office suites, to adding an additional elevator, stairs, sprinklers, and new mechanical shafts. Moreover, Mark, had the challenge of fitting the building to dental clinic standards that require extensive underfloor plumbing, supply units for compressed air, vacuum and nitrous oxide that is pumped to the second and third floor from the basement, while staying five feet from window heads; as required by historical preservation that states that the original ceiling height at that point must be revealed.
Furthermore, Mark informed us of the historical fact that the Iron Block Building was based off of the castiron façade of the Cary Building in New York City, which was designed by the smith Daniel Badger, and its many intricate details were picked from Badger’s catalogue; making the Iron Block less unique at the time. Our interview concluded with an insightful walk-through of the building in which he showcased multiple artifacts that he discovered onsite. Such notable artifacts included a sealed half-full seltzer bottle, newspapers that were stuffed into the wall cavities, photographs from G. Klein’s studio, old film, and remnants from the oldest operating elevator in the city (1897-1983). However, the most remarkable and most symbolic find was an old dentist chair, which the company decided to refurbish and display at their street level entrance window to their clinic on Wisconsin Ave. Sadly, he did not find any artifacts from the old bank that was housed in the building, which could have been cleared out during the renovation of 1983.
We had the pleasure of interviewing the charming and pleasant in-house architect of Dental Associates, Mark Demsky, that worked on the restoration of the Iron Block from 2012- 2014. He has been working for Dental Associates for the past 6 years, joining the family owned dental group, the largest in Wisconsin, a year after the current owner, Dr. Manos, took over ownership of the business from his uncle, Dr. John G. Gonis that started it in 1973. Dr. Manos envisioned the expansion of the business from seven clinics throughout the state to fifteen including current under construction locations; he also wanted to transfer the corporate office of the company from Wauwatosa back to Milwaukee where his uncle opened the first clinic in the 70’s. According to Mark, Dr. Manos and he received word of the Iron Block building that was up for sale by the bank that seized it from its previous owner, so, they decided to tour the building; it was abandoned for the most part, in a dilapidated condition and its mechanical and electrical systems were all shot. The last time that the building was renovated was in 1983. Even though the price was low, it was still not enough of an incentive to restore the building because the cost of it would be too high, and attempting to tear it down would bring the resistance of the Historic Milwaukee Society which was deeded the landmark façade of the building in the 1980’s. In addition, it would have brought bad publicity for the company in the eyes of the public. So, Dental Associates decided to apply for Federal and State historic tax credit programs, which are managed by the Department of Interior of the National Park Service (NPS). Each, the State and Federal programs ended up reimbursing them with 20 percent of the cost of the restoration, a total of 40 percent, which is an incredible incentive for developers to preserve, restore and renovate buildings rather than demolish historical monuments. Thereafter, Dental Associates purchased the building, and changed its fate, for the city of Milwaukee was weighing the option of demolishing the dilapidated landmark and making a better use of the lot prior to their inquiry; business and population growth have increased the vertical datum in the city center and the Iron Block does not meet those demands. Since they opted for historical tax credits, the company was obligated to follow certain guidelines for restoring the building and challenges were abundant. For starters, iron-cast facades are not made any more, and local iron workers were unwilling to work on custom made patterns, though eventually, a local smith from Kenosha took on the challenge and helped construct 4,200 new hollow iron-cast pieces out of 97 patterns that amounted to roughly 30,000 lbs. of iron. In addition, two months after the purchase of the building, a piece of the façade collapsed onto the sidewalk in the presence of a local reporter that informed the public of the incident. Consequently, since they were not allowed to close off the sidewalk, and their remaining tenant, FedEx, would not move out during the renovation, the construction team had to install scaffolds around the building and wrap plastic sheets to prevent from any additional debris from falling on top of bystanders. All the while, they had to sandblast the flaking paint and rust off of the building in winter, which required pumping constant heat and vacuuming any residue from falling onto the sidewalk. The sandblasting process was done in sections so immediately after a zinc primer could be applied to prevent from the oxidization of the façade. After a yearlong process of restoring the exterior of the building, a challenging yearlong process of renovating the interior began; it entailed the complete gutting of the building from the brick and timber structure that was replaced by steel members to increasing the size of the century and a half old small office suites, to adding an additional elevator, stairs, sprinklers, and new mechanical shafts. Moreover, Mark, had the challenge of fitting the building to dental clinic standards that require extensive underfloor plumbing, supply units for compressed air, vacuum and nitrous oxide that is pumped to the second and third floor from the basement, while staying five feet from window heads; as required by historical preservation that states that the original ceiling height at that point must be revealed.
Furthermore, Mark informed us of the historical fact that the Iron Block Building was based off of the castiron façade of the Cary Building in New York City, which was designed by the smith Daniel Badger, and its many intricate details were picked from Badger’s catalogue; making the Iron Block less unique at the time. Our interview concluded with an insightful walk-through of the building in which he showcased multiple artifacts that he discovered onsite. Such notable artifacts included a sealed half-full seltzer bottle, newspapers that were stuffed into the wall cavities, photographs from G. Klein’s studio, old film, and remnants from the oldest operating elevator in the city (1897-1983). However, the most remarkable and most symbolic find was an old dentist chair, which the company decided to refurbish and display at their street level entrance window to their clinic on Wisconsin Ave. Sadly, he did not find any artifacts from the old bank that was housed in the building, which could have been cleared out during the renovation of 1983.
Project 4
On the corner of East Wisconsin Avenue and North Water Street resides the Iron Block building. Built in 1860, the building is nestled among mid-century brick, concrete, and glass curtain wall mid-rise and high-rise buildings. As can be noted in fig. 1, the Building Height Map, the Iron Block is a low-rise building situated in a vertically-dominated environment that attracts the eye upward. Despite its short stature, the Iron Block’s ornamental and intricate iron-cast Renaissance Revival façade delivers a bold presence that holds one’s gaze not far above the horizon. This appearance drew our attention as we came off of MCTS’s green-line and made us want to delve further into the Iron Block building’s past.
Since the Iron Block building is over a century and half old building and is centrally located at the heart of the city, it has seen Milwaukee grow from a town of 45,246 people in 1860 to a large city with a population of nearly 600,000 in 2015. As the city grew, it forced new development to the outskirts of the city, while development near the city center stretched vertically. A few key buildings in Milwaukee’s vertical expansion include the fourteen-story tall Pabst building from 1891, the twenty-story tall Wisconsin Gas building from 1930 and the 42-story tall U.S Bank building from 1971. Even the Iron Block expanded, albeit not vertically, in 1899 as a result of a fire in the adjacent building to the south. The Iron Block absorbed the remnants of this building, creating a sunny atrium that still exists today. The expansion can be seen between figs. 2 and 3, the 1894 and the 1910 Sanborn Maps of Milwaukee. Fortunately, while historic buildings such as the Pabst building were demolished to make room for larger towers that could accommodate real-estate demand, the Iron Block stood against time thanks to foresight of its owner who deeded the cast iron façade to the Milwaukee Historical Society for preservation in 1980.
The building’s landmark façade is the last of its kind in the state of Wisconsin, and was originally constructed as a more affordable alternative to stone as well as a quicker medium to assemble. As intricate as it is, the façade was not unique at the time. The Iron Block’s developer/owner, James B. Martin, based the building’s design on the Cary Building in New York, selecting individual elements from the catalogue of the façade fabricator, Daniel Badger. These façade elements are broken down in fig. 4, the Façade Taxonomy. Nowadays, building developers seldom employ cast iron façades due to their tendency to oxidize and the fact that they buckle and collapse in fires. For these reasons, the city nearly demolished the Iron Block in 2012, since the building was foreclosed by the banks and had not been renovated since 1983.
Around the same time, a family-owned dental group, Dental Associates, had been looking to move their business’s headquarters from Wauwatosa to Milwaukee, where they had opened their first clinic in the 1970’s. The company decided to purchase the Iron Block and go through a grueling two year restoration and renovation process rather than demolishing the Iron Block and building anew. This change of ownership also marked a change in the building’s business nature, since in the past it housed up to 25 different offices, studios, stores, clinics, and a bank. Today, the Iron Block houses two tenants: the corporate office and clinic of Dental Associates and a FedEx Store.
Since the Iron Block building is located in the heart of downtown Milwaukee, the residential demographic breakdown of the neighborhood differs greatly from that which is experienced on a day to day basis. As can be seen in figs. 5 through 8, the Demographic Maps, the residents of the neighborhood are primarily white. However, members of all racial groups commute to the downtown area during the day and night for work and pleasure, respectively. In regard to the Iron Block building itself, patients and workers of all races use the building during the work day, since the downtown Dental Associates clinic was opened in order to offer greater convenience to those working in the downtown area.
If the Iron Block building could talk, it would tell you about its history and how it took part in Milwaukee’s infrastructure development; from housing one of the first banks in the financial district of the city, to housing multiple health and dental clinics, which have all expanded outward around its location as can be seen in fig. 9, the Dental Clinic and Bank Map. If it could talk, it could tell you about its illustrious list of past tenants such as G. Klein, who photographed notable television and Broadway stars and Paul Smith, a pop artist that worked with Harley Davidson; how these past tenants thrived and threw parties on its rooftop. If the Iron Block could talk, it could tell you about its highs and lows, from when it was neglected and nearly demolished to its restoration to its former glory.
Since the Iron Block building is over a century and half old building and is centrally located at the heart of the city, it has seen Milwaukee grow from a town of 45,246 people in 1860 to a large city with a population of nearly 600,000 in 2015. As the city grew, it forced new development to the outskirts of the city, while development near the city center stretched vertically. A few key buildings in Milwaukee’s vertical expansion include the fourteen-story tall Pabst building from 1891, the twenty-story tall Wisconsin Gas building from 1930 and the 42-story tall U.S Bank building from 1971. Even the Iron Block expanded, albeit not vertically, in 1899 as a result of a fire in the adjacent building to the south. The Iron Block absorbed the remnants of this building, creating a sunny atrium that still exists today. The expansion can be seen between figs. 2 and 3, the 1894 and the 1910 Sanborn Maps of Milwaukee. Fortunately, while historic buildings such as the Pabst building were demolished to make room for larger towers that could accommodate real-estate demand, the Iron Block stood against time thanks to foresight of its owner who deeded the cast iron façade to the Milwaukee Historical Society for preservation in 1980.
The building’s landmark façade is the last of its kind in the state of Wisconsin, and was originally constructed as a more affordable alternative to stone as well as a quicker medium to assemble. As intricate as it is, the façade was not unique at the time. The Iron Block’s developer/owner, James B. Martin, based the building’s design on the Cary Building in New York, selecting individual elements from the catalogue of the façade fabricator, Daniel Badger. These façade elements are broken down in fig. 4, the Façade Taxonomy. Nowadays, building developers seldom employ cast iron façades due to their tendency to oxidize and the fact that they buckle and collapse in fires. For these reasons, the city nearly demolished the Iron Block in 2012, since the building was foreclosed by the banks and had not been renovated since 1983.
Around the same time, a family-owned dental group, Dental Associates, had been looking to move their business’s headquarters from Wauwatosa to Milwaukee, where they had opened their first clinic in the 1970’s. The company decided to purchase the Iron Block and go through a grueling two year restoration and renovation process rather than demolishing the Iron Block and building anew. This change of ownership also marked a change in the building’s business nature, since in the past it housed up to 25 different offices, studios, stores, clinics, and a bank. Today, the Iron Block houses two tenants: the corporate office and clinic of Dental Associates and a FedEx Store.
Since the Iron Block building is located in the heart of downtown Milwaukee, the residential demographic breakdown of the neighborhood differs greatly from that which is experienced on a day to day basis. As can be seen in figs. 5 through 8, the Demographic Maps, the residents of the neighborhood are primarily white. However, members of all racial groups commute to the downtown area during the day and night for work and pleasure, respectively. In regard to the Iron Block building itself, patients and workers of all races use the building during the work day, since the downtown Dental Associates clinic was opened in order to offer greater convenience to those working in the downtown area.
If the Iron Block building could talk, it would tell you about its history and how it took part in Milwaukee’s infrastructure development; from housing one of the first banks in the financial district of the city, to housing multiple health and dental clinics, which have all expanded outward around its location as can be seen in fig. 9, the Dental Clinic and Bank Map. If it could talk, it could tell you about its illustrious list of past tenants such as G. Klein, who photographed notable television and Broadway stars and Paul Smith, a pop artist that worked with Harley Davidson; how these past tenants thrived and threw parties on its rooftop. If the Iron Block could talk, it could tell you about its highs and lows, from when it was neglected and nearly demolished to its restoration to its former glory.