Historic preservation hearing held for Central City Plaza building; decision deferred to district nomination

The Milwaukee Historic Preservation Commission held a public hearing Feb. 3 on File 241-405, the proposed permanent historic designation of Central City Plaza Building No. 3 at 1747 North 6th Street in the 6th Aldermanic District, but took no final action and adjourned the matter to its March 3 meeting.

Staff told the commission it had revised its report since the previous month and now finds six of the ordinance criteria satisfied, up from four. Staff said the single-building nomination will be folded into a separate application to designate the entire Central City Plaza as a historic district; the Wisconsin Historical Society has advised the state is more likely to consider historic tax credits if the whole complex is designated and if all three buildings survive intact.

During the hearing, the commission limited testimony to whether Building No. 3 meets the ordinance's historic, architectural or cultural criteria (subsection 3e, sections f1–f10). Speakers included the son of architect Alonzo Robinson Jr., who urged preservation to recognize Robinson's work and the complex's importance to the Bronzeville neighborhood; Clayborne Benson of the Wisconsin Black Historical Society, who urged preservation of all three buildings; and Danae Davis, a resident of the 6th District, who supported designation and highlighted the role of buildings in preventing erasure of community history.

Staff emphasized aspects supporting designation: Central City Plaza was the first and remains a notable black-conceived, designed, owned and operated shopping center in Wisconsin; it originally housed numerous black-owned businesses and employed more than 100 people at its peak. Staff also cited the site's association with Thelmer Chaney (a local business and civic leader) and credited architect Alonzo Robinson as a pioneering Black architect in the state. The complex was earlier determined eligible for the National Register by the Wisconsin Historical Society in a report on Robinson.

The commission opened the public hearing and accepted testimony for the record for convenience of speakers, then voted to keep the hearing open and to adjourn consideration of the file to the March 3 meeting at 3 p.m., when the commission will take up the separate district nomination that subsumes this item. Staff said the combined approach could improve eligibility for state historic tax credits and that the full district report would likely add two or three pages to the current packet.

No recommendation to the Common Council on designation was issued at this meeting. The commission will hear the district application at the next cycle, accept additional testimony if offered, and then make its recommendation to the Common Council consistent with the ordinance criteria.