Milwaukee City Hall
Milwaukee City Hall in 2017
Location within Wisconsin Show map of Wisconsin Milwaukee City Hall (the United States) Show map of the United States
Record height
Tallest in Wisconsin from 1895 to 1973[I]
Preceded by	Pabst Building
Surpassed by	U.S. Bank Center
General information
Type	Municipal office
Architectural style	Flemish Renaissance Revival
Location	200 E. Wells St.Milwaukee, United States
Coordinates	43°02′30″N87°54′35″W / 43.0417°N 87.9098°W /43.0417; -87.9098
Completed	1895; 130 years ago (1895)
Height
Roof	353 ft (108 m)
Technical details
Floor count	15
Other information
Public transit access	MCTS The Hop
Milwaukee City Hall
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
City Hall in 1901
Location	200 E. Wells St.Milwaukee, United States
NRHP reference No.	73000085[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	March 14, 1973
Designated NHL	April 5, 2005[2]
References
[3]

TheMilwaukee City Hall is a skyscraper and town hall located inMilwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was finished in 1895,^[4] and was Milwaukee's tallest building until completion of theFirst Wisconsin Center in 1973. In 1973 it was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.^[5]

Milwaukee City Hall was designed by architectHenry C. Koch in theFlemish Renaissance Revival style,^[4][6] based on bothGerman precedent (for example, theHamburg Rathaus or city hall), and local examples (thePabst Building, demolished in 1981). Due to Milwaukee's historicGerman immigrant population, many of the surrounding buildings mirror this design. The foundation consists of 2,584 white pine piles that were driven into the marshy land surrounding theMilwaukee River.^[7]

From the foundation base, the main block of the building rises eight stories, with the massive tower at the end rising to 350 feet (110 m), with its clock faces flanked by four "beer stein" turrets, and topped by a copper-clad spire.^[8][5] The upper part of the tower was rebuilt after a fire in October 1929.^[6]

The interior features a 20-by-70-foot (6.1 m × 21.3 m) open atrium, which rises eight stories tall and is topped by a skylight.^[9]

The tower holds a singlebourdon bell named afterSolomon Juneau, Milwaukee's first mayor.^[10] It was designed and crafted by the Campbells, who were early pioneers in creatingdiving chambers and suits near theGreat Lakes area during that time. The bell weighs 22,500 pounds (10,200 kg; 10.2 t) and was hoisted in the tower in 1896, first chiming on New Year's Eve.^{[citation needed]}

City Hall was the marketing symbol of Milwaukee until the completion of theCalatrava wing of theMilwaukee Art Museum in 2001, but the bell tower continues to be used as a municipal icon and in some traffic and parking signs. Formerly the tower's front three sides were secondarily used as a lightedmarquee, using three tiers of letters with various messages to welcome visitors, conventions and events, along with featuring messages timed to a holiday or achievement. An image of the City Hall marquee containingWelcome Milwaukee Visitors was one of the iconic images of the opening sequence for locally-set sitcom,Laverne & Shirley. The marquee was removed in 1988, and its letters were donated to theMilwaukee Institute of Art and Design in 2012.^[11]

From 2006 to 2008, the entire building was renovated, including a complete dis-assembly and reassembly of the bell tower, by J. P. Cullen & Sons, Inc., a construction manager and general contractor headquartered inJanesville, Wisconsin.^[12] Before the restoration began, the bell was rung rarely because of seismic concerns, and in the last few years an assembly of scaffolds with protective coverings had been in place around the building to protect pedestrians from falling stone and brickwork. The quality of theUS$60,000,000 restoration was the subject of a lawsuit filed by the city of Milwaukee in 2012 against various parties involved in the work.^[4]

City Hall was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1973, and declared aNational Historic Landmark in 2005.^[4]

City Hall
General information
System	The Hop streetcar stop
Services
Preceding station The Hop Following station Wisconsin Avenue towardIntermodal Station M-Line Cathedral Square towardBurns Commons Wisconsin Avenue towardHistoric Third Ward L-Line Wisconsin Avenue One-way operation
Location

City Hall is currently served bythe Hop streetcar.^[13] Additionally,Milwaukee County Transit System routes 15,^[14] 18,^[15] and 57,^[16] as well as the GreenLine bus, serve City Hall.^[17]

• List of skyscrapers
• List of tallest buildings in Milwaukee
• List of tallest structures built before the 20th century

Wikimedia Commons has media related toMilwaukee City Hall.

• A brief history of Milwaukee and City Hall
• City Hall Restoration Project
• National Historic Landmark nomination (PDF)
• Emporis page
• Fixing City Hall won't come easy
• Questioning the Merits of Propping Up City Hall

• Buildings and structures in Milwaukee
• City halls in Wisconsin
• Clock towers in Wisconsin
• Government buildings completed in 1895
• City and town halls on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin
• National Historic Landmarks in Wisconsin
• Skyscraper office buildings in Milwaukee
• Renaissance Revival architecture in Wisconsin
• National Register of Historic Places in Milwaukee

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