Officials approve Carroll's plan to use historic Waukesha home

Mike De Sisti
A student is seen at Carroll University in October 2014. Waukesha’s plan commission just approved plans for the college to renovate an historic home for a chaplain’s office just southwest of the main campus.
Published on: 5/5/2016

The Carroll University campus is about to get a little bit bigger.

The Waukesha Plan Commission unanimously approved design plans and a conditional-use permit for the university at a brief special meeting May 3. The plans and the permit are for a historic house at 239 W. College Ave. — just east Grand Avenue and southwest of the school's main campus — that Carroll will buy and use as an office for the university's chaplain.

The commission took less than five minutes to discuss and vote on the proposal, which was the only item listed on the panel's agenda.

According to planning documents, the house is one of the oldest in the city and sits within the College Avenue Historic District. It was constructed from limestone taken from a quarry where Carroll's football field — Schneider Stadium — now stands.

'Our understanding is that the house was built in 1850,' said Ron Lostetter, Carroll's vice president of finance and administrative services, at a Waukesha Landmarks Commission meeting last month. 'Carroll started in 1846, so we feel there's a huge connection between our institution and this particular building.'

The university, according to the proposal, intends to preserve most of the historic nature of the home, but some changes will be made to the property, including the installation of a handicap-accessible ramp, a new porch on the northwest corner of the house and the addition of a handicap parking stall in the driveway.

However, City Planner Maria Pandazi said during the plan commission meeting that Carroll 'will essentially be keeping the house in its original, historic form.'

The proposal was granted a 'certificate of appropriateness' from the landmarks commission before it was presented to plan commissioners.

A cost estimate for the project was not publicly discussed at either meeting.

Mayor Shawn Reilly at the plan commission meeting thanked Carroll for its interest in the home.

'Another building will be well-maintained,' he said.