The Historic Preservation Commission of Milwaukee met on Monday, May 4, 2026, at 3:02 PM in City Hall Room 301-B. The meeting was chaired by Jordan Morales and all seven commissioners were present. The commission considered seven Certificates of Appropriateness, reviewed a National Register nomination for the Mitchell Park Domes, and voted on the Cream of the Cream City awards. The meeting adjourned at 4:42 PM.
Item 1: Mothball Status for Catherine Foley Tavern (266 E. Erie St): Carl Bahneman (MPA board member) reported recent graffiti was remediated, the building is secure and stable, and weekly checks continue. No issues from the April storm. MPA is working with UWM on a board-up intervention design. A fundraising event (“Brick by Brick”) is scheduled at Brown Deer Country Club. The mothball period is six months. The resolution was adopted unanimously (7-0).
Item 2: Mural at 918 N. Vel R. Phillips Ave (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Historic District): This was a holdover from the previous month to allow a test panel. Applicant Seeds of Health (CEO Jody Weber, architect Bob Morris, and artist Tia Richardson) presented results. The test panel (Polytab cloth) was applied and removed without damaging the brick, as confirmed by memos from Holton Brothers and State Painting Company. The artist agreed to waive artist rights for future removal. The mural will be painted off-site with community participation (over 600 people already involved) and adhered to the wall. The artist described using a breathable adhesive with a perm rating of 37 metric perms (comparable to Tyvek). Commissioners raised concerns about long-term maintenance and ownership changes; Seeds of Health stated strong intent to retain the building. Staff recommended approval with conditions for breathable adhesive. The resolution was adopted unanimously (7-0).
Item 3: Door Hood at 1060 E. Juneau Ave (First Ward Triangle Historic District): Gina Mittnacht (president of the owning LLC) described the property as “frozen in time” with historic furnishings, currently used by the Milwaukee Junior League. The new door hood (copper-faced, wood brackets) will protect the entrance after removal of a non-historic garage addition. Staff found the design consistent with the historic character. The applicant also revealed plans to donate the property to a 501(c)(3) for perpetual preservation. The resolution was adopted unanimously (7-0).
Item 9: National Register Nomination for Mitchell Park Domes (524 S. Layton Blvd): Graduate intern Dilruba Shuvra presented a pre-recorded presentation supporting the nomination. The domes are significant at the state level under Criterion C (architecture, engineering) as a unique conoidal form, and at the national level under Criterion C (engineering) as the work of master engineer Charles Whitney. The domes were commissioned in 1954, designed by architect Donald Gribb, and patented in 1965. They are the only conoidal domes used as a conservatory. The commission approved the nomination unanimously (7-0) and will submit comments to the state review board by May 15.
Item 10: Cream of the Cream City Awards: Staff presented eight nominees. Commissioners discussed the need to improve outreach and prestige of the awards. Voting was conducted by paper ballot. Winners (those receiving a majority vote) were:
No awards were given in the Education category. The awards ceremony is scheduled for May 21, 2026, at Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery.
So I believe we do, yes. So yes, uh can you please take the roll, Miss Roman Anne Pieper? She will be coming virtually. She might be coming soon then. We'll keep an eye on it. And um Sally Pelt. Shh here right now. Okay. Nicholas Hans Robinson. Hi, and that's Hans. But you can say Nicholas Robinson. Thank you. Present. Um Patricia Keaton. She said she was on her way. Okay, so they might be coming soon. Matt DeRose. Here. Robert Bauman. Here. Jordan Morales. Here. So we have four members. We have Corinne. Right. Okay. Then we'll call it. We got Miss Kitten now. Excellent. Okay. All right. We'll call item 240748 resolution relating to a certificate of appropriateness for mothball status at 266 East Erie Street. The Catherine Foley Tavern. For uh Catherine Foley Tavern Restoration LLC. And then share the full screen. Okay, I'm not sure if anyone here is from MPA. Okay. Carl's here. So would you mind coming up to just give an update? Good afternoon, Carl Bonneman, board member of MPA. And of course, as the owners of the Catherine Foley Tavern. Just a couple of updates regarding the mothball status. There was recently graffiti, uh, but as of yesterday it had been uh remediated, and we do have staff going over there past it once a week to confirm that it's still okay and there's no additional graffiti. Um building is secure, stable, airtight based on all of the all of the work that we had done, and there have been numerous walkthroughs since the April storm. So obviously that was a concern for everybody, but there were been a lot of walkthroughs on it. Have not noticed any any issues. Um and then we are working with uh UWM on uh board up intervention design to hopefully kind of help us to have even less graffiti to have to deal with. So um I don't know if there's any other questions, but those are the updates I have today to continue the moth law status. Okay. Any questions from the commissioners?