Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Historic Preservation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Kenosha County seeks CDBG help for phase 5 of Kemper Center exterior restoration
Summary
Kenosha County Parks requested funds for phase 5 of a multi-year restoration at the Kemper Center, a nationally registered historic building. Parks director Wyatt Moore said wind-driven lake spray is eroding mortar and bricks and urged keeping the work on a 10-year schedule to avoid higher repair costs.
Kenosha County Parks asked the CDBG advisory committee to help fund the next phase of an exterior-envelope preservation program at the Kemper Center, a historic building on Lake Michigan that is on the National Register of Historic Places.
"The Kemper Center is a historic building...on Lake Michigan," Parks Director Wyatt Moore said. He described a 10-year plan to address masonry mortar, windows and other points of water infiltration. Moore said wind-driven rain off the lake is accelerating mortar erosion and that delaying work risks larger, more expensive repairs in the future.
The requested work for phase 5 focuses on an interior corridor near the chapel and adjacent courtyards; typical work includes tuckpointing, replacing failing mortar and addressing windows and doors in accordance with National Park Service guidance. Moore said earlier phases 1 through 4 were completed with prior CDBG support and that partial funding for phase 5 would simply shorten the reach of this year's work.
Committee members asked about the county's prior support levels and project timing; county staff said prior years' awards totaled approximately $33,000 and $22,000 in recent cycles and that the county is returning for the next phase as part of the planned schedule.
No formal vote took place during the presentation.
