Waukesha panel upholds landmark status of former gas station

Jan. 25, 2011
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By Laurel Walker of the Journal Sentinel

Jan. 25, 2011 0

Waukesha - A city review board has denied the Waukesha Family YMCA's appeal of landmark designation for a small former gas station the Y acquired and intended to level for construction of an apartment project.

In a decision issued Monday, the Administrative Review Board upheld the Landmarks Commission's decision in July that the small, Tudor-style building at E. Broadway and Hartwell Ave. should be preserved for its historic value.

The building, built in 1929 as the Bartles-Maguire Oil Co.(later Wadhams Oil Co.) service station, is considered historic because it was one of the few remaining service stations built in the 1920s and '30s in the style of a home to blend in with residential neighborhoods. In more recent years the building has served as a fruit stand and used car dealership but was vacant when the Y acquired it for about $150,000.

During hearings on the matter, the Y's representatives argued the building was in disrepair, did not have historic value and would be as expensive to upgrade as it was to buy.

Chris Becker, executive director of the Y, said Tuesday that the board is investigating a number of options, from moving the building - action that would also require Landmarks Commission approval - to appealing the decision to circuit court.

"There are a lot of possibilities," he said.

A partnership of the Y and developer CommonBond have proposed an apartment project on the site. About 62 apartments serving mobility-impaired residents has been brought before the Plan Commission but tabled. Becker said since then that CommonBond has decided to delay the project.

About Laurel Walker
Laurel Walker covered local, school and county government for 20 years -- the last half of that at the Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel -- before she was named Waukesha County columnist in 1997. Today she writes about the people, places and events around metropolitan Milwaukee with a broad suburban focus. She was the youngest of nine children raised on a central Wisconsin farm before leaving the nest for journalism studies at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a masters degree at the University of Oregon. She has spent the last half of her life in Waukesha County, where she and her husband raised two sons. Though she has a fondness for life in Waukesha, she eagerly partakes in the culture of the big city to the east and the recreation of the forests to the west. With sons in the arts, she has a special fondness for symphonic music concerts and art museums. She finds peace in a good book at a Northwoods getaway weekend, adventure in family visits to the east and west coasts, and satisfaction in a column well-written that reaches readers.
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