Landmarks Commission approves new recessed entrance at 133 North Broadway to serve upstairs units

The Green Bay Landmarks Commission on May 21 approved a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA 205-4) permitting a new recessed entrance at 133 North Broadway to provide separate access to proposed upstairs apartments.

Jason, a staff member, told the commission the application was held over from the Feb. 19 meeting and that the applicant returned with a modified design. "The applicant has come back with a new proposal, which is much improved," Jason said, describing a narrower entrance placed at the end of the existing storefront and beneath the existing header that would remove about half of the northern storefront window.

The commission heard that historical photographic evidence for the storefront is inconclusive. Jason noted an only available historical image from about 1986 and said it "doesn't show an entrance here on the right side of the front," but added that a later image gives a "hint that a 4 foot wide entrance may have at 1 point been here." The applicant and commissioners discussed neighboring storefronts — including recessed entrances at adjacent properties and a nearby business with multiple recessed doors — as context for compatibility.

One commissioner, identified in the record as a commission member, criticized altering historic presentation but said practical access needs for residential units outweighed that concern: "I'm generally very loathsome toward altering historic presentation...the pragmatic reality of allowing this to proceed, is over that weighs much heavier on my, my thoughts than altering," the commissioner said.

After a public-floor exchange in which the applicant confirmed the second floor historically had been offices and that the plan is to convert it to apartments, the commission voted on a motion to approve the COA. The motion carried; the commission recorded the outcome as approval of the proposed front-façade entrance as described in the application.

Discussion vs. decision: the record shows the commission debated historic integrity, precedent from neighboring storefronts, and building-code/access considerations (recessed doors are commonly used to meet code). The formal action taken was the approval of COA 205-4; the commission did not attach conditions in the meeting minutes beyond the approved design as presented.

The COA was held over from Feb. 19, 2025, and the applicant indicated the upstairs historically had been offices and is intended to be converted to residential units. Implementation details and building permits were not discussed in the record and remain subject to permitting and building-code review.