The planned demolition of a 94-year-old commercial building on Milwaukee’s south side has been momentarily blocked after a city resident filed a temporary historic designation petition with the city.
The three-story brick building at the southeast corner of Greenfield Avenue and Layton Boulevard is owned by Notre Dame Middle School Inc.
School officials filed a raze permit for the building, 1418 S. Layton Blvd., on April 3 with the intent to use the site to expand the playground for the students.
Now that a temporary historic designation petition has been filed, the city’s Historic Preservation Commission with be tasked with deciding if the building meets one of the 10 criteria in the city statutes to be saved, said Carlen Hatala, senior planner with the commission.
The Mediterranean Revival-style building was constructed around 1924 for the Rock Investment Company for $25,000, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
It was built as four stories with four offices. The building has housed a drug store, a florist and a grocery store, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
The property is located in the South Layton Boulevard Historic District, which is nationally recognized, but not locally designated as a historic district.
To meet a historic designation criteria, Hatala and her team will have to determine if the property should be saved.
She will report her findings to the commission within the next month, although a meeting date has not yet been set.
Representatives from Notre Dame Middle School could not immediately be reached for comment.
Some of the criteria that could save the property from demolition include if it was designed by a prominent architect; was at one time associated with an ethnic group; if the Rock Investment Co. or its leaders had a significant effect on the city’s history or if it is grouped with other buildings on the boulevard, Hatala said.
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