The oldest building on Milwaukee's riverfront is in danger of demolition. (Douglas Quigley)

Dear Preservation 911,

The Milwaukee Riverfront is rapidly being redeveloped after years of being polluted, ignored, abandoned, and ridiculed. The good news is that the river is cleaner and more attractive to humans and wildlife than more than a century.

One of our national historic districts that abuts the river is now experiencing renewed interest. This five-block region is made up of some of Milwaukee's oldest commercial blocks, some built only 10 years after the city's 1846 incorporation.

The district is relatively intact, but one of its anchors is threatened with demolition. An attractive 1871 arcaded brick storefront at 100 Seeboth Street, built by one of the city's early developers, is the oldest structure on the entire Milwaukee Riverfront. It was built 25 years after Milwaukee became a city on the point of land that one of the city founders first laid claim to.

The historic district is teetering between becoming an area of scattered relics, some of which may survive the current onslaught of developers, or being an intact harborside community of the city's most ancient industrial and commercial architecture, housing attractive shops, restaurants, and residences (like Lacleeds Landing in St. Louis or a miniature SoHo).

Burnham Block, as it is known, is one of the three cornerstone buildings that anchor this national historic district. If Burnham Block comes down, the entire district will be diminished historically. When development occurs in a historic district, preservation should be the primary source of that development. We are trying to raise the bar for preservation and creative new architecture to co-exist, not for one to replace the other. I ask for your help in this matter.

Urgently,

Douglas Quigley, Milwaukee Preservation Alliance

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