Officials concerned about future of landmark Smith Bros. building that will be auctioned during Maritime Heritage Festival

By KRISTYN HALBIG ZIEHM
Ozaukee Press staff
Posted 7-6-06

Port Washington could lose its last fish shanty when the historic building along the west slip is auctioned next month.

The Smith Bros. shanty, which is the last of the shanties that once lined the south side of the city’s west slip, is set to be sold during Maritime Heritage Festival on Saturday, Aug. 12.

The possibility that someone could change or raze the building and its landmark “Smith Bros. Fish” sign on the north facade has officials concerned.

“Port Washington’s history was in commercial fishing, and that’s the last remaining fish shanty,” Mayor Scott Huebner said. “This touches the heart of everybody in Port. One of the things we have to build on is our history.

“I definitely think the city should see what it can do to preserve it.”

Randy Tetzlaff, the city’s director of planning and development, said, “I’d hate to see it go. It’s a landmark. Whenever you come down (St. Mary’s) hill, you see it. It’s a tie to the old fishing industry Port was built on.”

But, he said, anyone buying the property is acquiring more than just a building.

“I think you’re buying the quaintness, the charm of that building, so I would think — I would hope — that you would keep that intact,” Tetzlaff said.

The central-city zoning permits commercial or residential uses for the property, he said, with a 35-foot height limit.

The city has no demolition controls in place, he noted.

Although the north facade, which for decades has been the subject of photographs and paintings by those visiting the city, would likely qualify as a historic sign under city ordinances, Huebner said, there is little the city could do to prevent it from being altered or removed.

The issue is expected to be discussed by the Plan Commission when it meets Thursday, July 20.

Marc Eernisse, president of the Port Washington Historical Society, said the organization would discuss the shanty sale during its quarterly meeting July 19.

The shanty building, which is owned by Mark and Mike Speas and Mike and John Ansay, will have a reserve price of $450,000, with the winning bidder expected to put $50,000 down on Aug. 12 and complete the sale by Aug. 25.

They are not limiting anyone’s right to alter the 4,000-square-foot building, which has a commercial space on the first floor and two apartments on the second floor, or the painted “Smith Bros. Fish” sign that has graced the north facade for decades, Mark Speas said.

“It (the sign) is such a novelty, I can’t imagine someone would sandblast it off or repaint it,” Speas said. “Someone’s going to put their own signature on it. When we sell it, they have a right to do whatever the city allows.”

The decision to sell the shanty through an auction was made because of the building’s unique nature, Speas said.

“We think it’s an unusual product, so you have to have an unusual way of selling it,” he said.

The shanty has been part of Port Washington’s landscape for almost 80 years.

The building, which was used as a net-drying and repairing facility, was constructed after the 1924 flood washed an entire row of shanties off the west slip, said Lloyd Smith, whose family started the commercial fishing business that bore their name.

“The gill nets would stretch on the floor of the lake like a tennis court net,” he said. The nets, some of which were a half-mile long, would tear when sharp coal remnants called clinkers were stirred up during storms.

“They would rip the heck out of the nets,” Smith said. “The nets were originally made out of linen and, after World War II, nylon. They weren’t cheap, so it was worthwhile to repair them.”

Smith Bros. had at least one man and sometimes two working full time repairing the nets on the second floor of the shanty, Smith said.

Next door was the Smith Bros. fish house, where the fish were cleaned, and next to that was the smokehouse, he said.

When the Speases and Ansays bought the west slip land from the Smith family, the building was in disrepair. They refurbished the shanty, which is made of Douglas fir, saying the historic value of the building set the tone for the remainder of the west-slip development.

Grey Sunder Prescher, an advertising firm, rented the shanty building for years but left this spring. Speas said the owners have been unsuccessful in finding a new tenant.

“Businesses, when they’re leasing property, don’t put a premium on a lake view or lighthouse view,” Speas said. “For residential uses, people will pay a lot more for the lake view. We learned that the hard way.

“It’s a matter of math — we think we could get more out of it by selling it than leasing it.”

Maritime Heritage Festival provides the ideal backdrop for the auction, he said, noting people with an interest in the building are likely to attend the festival and vice versa.

They did not consider selling the building by conventional means, Speas said.

“We think it’s perfect as an auction because it is a unique building,” he said. “It could be a lot of different things. The building lends itself to someone who’s a little nonconformist.”

Auctioneer Bill Cain, a real estate agent with Re/Max Universal Realty in Plymouth who is handling the sale, said it’s becoming more common to sell unique properties by auction, adding the marketing campaign will include billboards, mailings and traditional advertising in newspapers and on the Internet. Open houses are set for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays, July 16 and Aug. 6.

“It takes the property to the market instead of waiting for the market to come to the property,” he said. “This building is unique for so many reasons.

“This is the postcard of Port Washington, and there’s a lot of positive energy to downtown Port Washington right now.”

The building would be ideal for someone who wants to use the first floor for an office or studio and live above it or convert the entire building for residential use, Speas said.

Although some people have mentioned the possibility of creating a restaurant or other commercial use on the first floor, access is difficult, he said.

“It’s a high-profile building, but it’s hard to get to and signage is a challenge,” he said.

Officials also said the structure would be the ideal home for a museum.