The Milwaukee Historic Preservation Commission met on Monday, August 3, 2026, at 3:00 PM in City Hall Room 301-B, chaired by Jordan Morales. All seven commissioners were present. The commission considered 27 certificates of appropriateness (COAs), including six discussion items and a consent calendar of 21 staff-approved items. Key debates centered on design appropriateness in the Brewers Hill Historic District and masonry mortar standards for Turner Hall, a National Historic Landmark.
Item 1 (260161) – Door infill at 2665 N. Lake Drive (North Point North): Owners Anna Timms and Craig Rigby proposed infilling an exterior door to enlarge the kitchen. Staff recommended Portland cement stucco matching existing texture, color, hardness, and thickness, with no EIFS. No objections; the commission adopted the resolution unanimously (7-0).
Item 2 (260404) – New patio doors and deck at 107 W. Brown Street (Brewers Hill): Applicant Shalonda McCrory of Brew City BnBs proposed a 15.5' x 13.5' deck and sliding patio doors. Staff expressed concerns that the deck size and enlarged opening would make the side elevation appear primary, contrary to district guidelines. Commissioners criticized the AI-generated rendering as “suburban” and encouraged traditional materials (tongue-and-groove wood, custom spindles) and a scaled-down deck. The commission held the item (7-0) to allow the applicant to work with staff on a revised design.
Items 3 & 4 (260405, 260406) – Garage demolition and new garage/patio doors at 2328 E. Back Bay Street (North Point South): The same applicant (Shalonda McCrory) sought COAs for demolition of an existing garage and construction of a new garage with patio doors. Staff reported final plans had not been received. Both items were held (7-0) until the next meeting to allow plan submission.
Item 5 (260410) – Rehabilitation of Grand Department Store/Mitchell Market Place at 1101 W. Historic Mitchell Street (Mitchell Street Historic District): Applicant Zuwena Cotton, represented by Courtney Ragon of Continuum Architects, plans to retain first-floor retail and community space, add a daycare, and convert the second floor to apartments. Staff raised concerns about the proposed Prosoco Sure Clean (highly caustic) for limestone cleaning, recommending initial cleaning with water and light surfactants, and testing black stains. The architect agreed to all conditions, including a separate masonry cleaning permit. The commission adopted (7-0) with conditions.
Item 6 (260376) – Exterior structural repairs and masonry at Turner Hall (1034 N. Vel R. Phillips Avenue): Executive Director Emilio DeTorre, Facilities Manager Eric Pitt, and Engineer Jeff Bean presented a plan to install two bent steel C-channel braces across the north wing facade (1902-1903 annex) to address bowing and cracking. Staff strongly required Type O or Natural Hydraulic Lime (NHL) mortar instead of proposed Type N mortar, citing precedent at the Pabst complex and Turner Hall’s National Historic Landmark status. The steel will be painted to blend. The commission adopted (7-0) with staff conditions.
A special message section that provides definitions for the licenses considered in the application and if applicable, information on public entertainment premises and extended hours establishment applications. In the lower section of the notice, there's information on how to submit objections. If you have an objection to the proposed business, you must submit it in writing to the licensed division by emailing us at license at Milwaukee.gov or sending a letter to our office located at two hundred East Well Street, room one oh five, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, five three two oh two. Make sure to include the following information in your objection. Please make sure that your objection reflects your own experiences as a licenses committee cannot consider hearsay. Your objection should relate to the operation of the proposed license and how it will have an adverse impact on the health, safety, and welfare of the public and the neighborhood. If you have any questions about this notice or license applications, contact the license division at license at Milwaukee.gov or calls at four one four two eight six twenty-two thirty-eighths. Did I hear about it? Calling to uh order the August third meeting of the historic preservation commission. Uh Mr. Roman, can you please call the role? Ann Piper here. Sally Pelt. Here. Nicholas Robinson. Here. Matt DeRose. Here. Robert Boutman. Here. Patricia Keaton. Excused. And Jordan Morales. Here. All right. We'll start with item number. Perfect. Yeah. Oh, there we go. Perfect. Everybody's here. Uh, we'll start with uh item one, two six zero one six one resolution relating to a certificate certificate of appropriateness for the infill of one door at two six six five North Lake Drive in the North Point North Historic District for Anna Tims and Craig Rigby. Uh, Carmen, could you call over to City Channel there? You haven't set me up for PowerPoint sharing. Okay. Uh, going. So we've got the uh J. Photographed here, the front elevation. This is the rear elevation, the west elevation. Um and they are proposing removing one exterior door, which um currently is just used for exterior um storage, um, but they want to remove that and infill the opening to enlarge the kitchen area. Um so here is the elevation as it is existing with that door. Um they would remove that opening, uh infill it with stucco uh to match the existing um texture and color of the rear facade. It's not visible from the right-of-way, it is the rear facade. Um so staff is recommending approval with conditions, um, and the conditions just being that uh the new stucco will be Portland cement stucco, no eFus would be allowed, um, and that the stucco should match uh the original stucco in terms of uh texture, hardness, and thickness. All right. Can you go back to the original, what it looks like now, please? Yep. The photo. Yeah, thank you. That's stucco, the blue.