RECOMMENDATIONS |
Survey and Research Needs Recommendations for the Registration and Protection of Resources It is believed that the area of the city of Port Washington covered by the intensive survey has been adequately documented and further survey work in this area is not recommended. Future research needs have already been suggested in the Architects and Builders theme. These include: studying the various census tracts pertaining to Port Washington kept at the State Historical Society in order to identify inhabitants calling themselves builders or contractors (i.e. masons, carpenters, etc.); and undertaking a systematic search of all the Port Washington newspapers published after 1855 to identify building activity in the city after that date and the persons related to it. Microfilm copies of these newspapers are available at the W. J. Niederkorn Public Library and these are the best and virtually the only resource available for such a study. Both of these are projects that should ideally be undertaken by a local historical society, and it is believed that the data base created by the intensive survey will be of benefit to these efforts. Other needed research efforts should concentrate on the potentially eligible individual buildings noted in the preceding section. In addition, an immediate effort should be made to identify any areas within the city that might contain either prehistoric or historic archeological remains. Such areas might include: the marina area and other areas bordering the outlet of Sauk Creek; the Sauk Creek corridor itself; and Lake Park, especially that portion containing the old Port Brewery and Gunther Brickyard. B. Port Washington's Current National Register Listings and Determinations of Eligibility Harry W. Bolens House, 842 W. Grand Ave.(1901). NRHP 8-25-83 Edward Dodge House, 126 E. Grand Ave. (1848). NRHP 7-24-75 Hoffman House Hotel, 200 W. Grand Ave. (1895). NRHP 3-1-84 Old Ozaukee County Courthouse, 109 W. Main St. (1902). NRHP 12-12-76 St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Ca.431 N. Johnson St. (1919). NRHP 12-12-77 Fisherman's Park Access Bridge, Meyer La. (1925). DOE 10-9-87 Port Washington Light Station, 311 E. Johnson St. (1860). DOE 4-6-93/NRHP listing pending The biggest threat to the historic resources of Port Washington is the city's changing status relative to the nearby metropolis of Milwaukee. For most of is history, Port Washington has been a distinct and separate community and most of its residents worked and shopped within this community. The ongoing expansion of the metropolitan area surrounding Milwaukee, however, is now affecting many communities like Port Washington that once lay outside its direct influence. Evidence of this can be seen in the new suburbs that are now being built around the periphery of Port Washington, suburbs that increasingly house people who, for the most part, work elsewhere. This increase in local population has brought with it the need for more services, larger and newer public facilities, and more and larger stores, all of which are having and will continue to have an impact on the existing historic infrastructure of the city. The considerable age of Port Washington made it all but inevitable that most of the city's oldest buildings would have been demolished by now and replaced with larger, more modern ones, and comparing the existing building stock with old maps and photos proved this to be true. Most noticeable now is the lack of early Federal and Greek Revival buildings and their vernacular form equivalents, which, in the beginning, formed the bulk of the building stock in the downtown core of the city. Today, the great majority of these buildings have been demolished and replaced by newer buildings, many of which, fortunately, are believed to be architecturally significant in themselves. The most heavily changed portion of the city is the area surrounding the downtown commercial core, an area bounded by Sauk Creek on the south, Milwaukee St. on the west, Jackson St. on the north, and Lake Michigan on the east. Examining the survey cards from the 1975 Reconnaissance Survey showed that a substantial number of the buildings within this area that were surveyed in that year have now been demolished and this area is still being threatened by new development projects today. This trend is especially important because of the effect it could have on the still largely intact historic commercial core of Port Washington, the retention of which is of vital importance to the future of historic preservation and tourism in the city. The degree of integrity is still quite high in this potentially eligible NRHP district, with its most impressive features being both the quality of its individual buildings and the retention of its uniform historic street fronts, which do so much to give the district its historic appearance. The principal problems the downtown faces include: educating the citizens of Port Washington and downtown property owners about the value of the district; establishing the right mix of businesses in the district; and keeping the district relevant to the evolving needs of the city. To address these problems, Port Washington might consider becoming a member of the very successful National Trust for Historic Preservation-sponsored Main Street Program. The intensive survey also noted that Port Washington contains many older residential buildings of all kinds that would have been surveyed except for the fact that they have been poorly remodeled; inappropriate additions, siding choices and window replacement choices being the most common problems. Thus, there is clearly room for improvement in terms of educating the general public as to the range of options that could be considered when remodeling or restoration projects are contemplated. It is possible, however, that the greatest threat to the residential buildings in the project area has already passed. Beginning in the 1940s and continuing to the present, many of the older residential buildings in the project area were converted into either single family or multi-family rental housing, a change that was often accompanied by interior and exterior alterations. As part of the same process, the ownership of many of these buildings shifted from an owner-occupied to an absentee status and this was often attended by a gradual lessening of maintenance standards and by the casual construction of inappropriately designed income-producing additions. Recently, however, there are signs that this trend may be reversing. Housing costs in Port Washington have risen to the point where the community's older housing stock is once again becoming attractive to single family purchasers and a number of older houses in the project area are showing signs of thoughtful recent renovation. The future growth of the city is also expected to have an impact on its archeological potential. The historic core of Port Washington is now almost completely ringed by modern subdivisions and new commercial buildings and the population growth forecasts for the near future suggest that this process will continue. Thus, any prehistoric or historic archeological remains that still exist within the city's boundaries must be considered to be greatly threatened. D. National Register Priorities The top priorities for listing in the National Register should be the Port Washington Downtown Historic District and the Grand Avenue Historic District. The nomination of these districts will require at least one and possibly more public meetings and the publicity that results will be useful in generating interest on the part of the owners of buildings in the three other suggested historic districts and of the privately owned individual properties that have also been recommended for listing. It is further recommended that Herziger's West Side Meat Market at 531 W. Grand Ave., the R. Stelling Grist & Flour Mill at 115 S. Milwaukee St., the Smith Bros. Fish Net House at 120 1/7 S. Wisconsin St., and the Sauk Creek King Post Truss Bridge at ca.130 S. Wisconsin Street be the next resources identified by the intensive survey to be nominated for listing in the NRHP. These resources are the most vulnerable in terms of condition, location, or ownership and they have the most to gain by the tax credits that are one of the benefits of NRHP listing and the favorable publicity that is also generated by being listed. The resulting publicity can then be used to prepare the way for the nomination of the other privately owned buildings on the list of potentially eligible individual buildings that is included in this report. Community Strategies for Historic Preservation The most effective means of implementing a meaningful historic preservation strategy in Port Washington would be the enactment of a local landmarks ordinance and the simultaneous creation of a local landmarks commission whose members would perhaps be appointed by the mayor and approved by the Port Washington Common Council. This commission would act in an advisory capacity to the Council and would perhaps be empowered to confer landmark status on properties that meet its criteria and to review and approve or disapprove building projects that affect historic landmark properties in the community. While such a commission does not exist at the moment, the recent establishment of the Port Washington Historical Society can be a meaningful first step towards creating local interest in such a commission. In 1997, the City applied to the DHP for a Survey and Planning grant that could be used to fund an intensive survey of the city, and it was successful. Its intent in funding such a survey was twofold; to create a data base of information about the historic resources in the city, and to identify properties that might be eligible for the NRHP. Both of these goals have now been realized and the successful first public meeting that was held in conjunction with this survey suggests that there is also local interest in historic preservation. The principal questions that now face the City are: "How can it best make use of the information generated by the survey to better inform the public about the historic resources in their midst?" and "How can public opinion be mobilized to place a higher value on these resources?" The answer seems to be largely a matter of education. The City now has much of the information it needs to assess the importance of the buildings in the survey area and the survey also identified both individual buildings and a group of buildings in the survey area that may meet NRHP criteria for listing. Therefore, the best course for the City to follow would appear to be to sponsor the nomination of these buildings to the NRHP as a way of demonstrating to the community that Port Washington does, in fact, contain notable historic resources, some of which, like the Sauk Creek Bridge, are not necessarily of a type normally valued by the general public. Listing these resources in the NRHP is an important step because people must first be made aware of their historic resources before they will place a value on them and be motivated to preserve them. Listing these resources is also a good way of introducing the community to the criteria that the National Register uses to evaluate buildings and districts. And finally, listing these buildings would also be a way of showing that a number of the historic resources in the city that are privately owned stand to benefit from available restoration-related Federal and State tax credits. The need for getting more and better information into the hands of the public is clear. For instance, the intensive survey found that a number of buildings in the survey area that might otherwise have been eligible for listing in the NRHP have been rendered ineligible because they have been resided, most often with inappropriate materials or with materials that are different in scale from the originals such as when wide gauge clapboard is used to replace narrower gauge original siding. By disseminating information that is readily available from the NRHP and the DHP about the importance of maintaining a building's original appearance and by making the public aware of the fact that siding of an appropriate size is now widely available, the City can help the public make better informed decisions about renovation projects. The City can also use the products of the survey to help educate the community about its historic resources. Historic photos and maps of Port Washington that were identified in the survey could be reproduced (with the aid of funding from local businesses) and displayed in the heavily used W. J. Niederkorn Public Library or in local schools and businesses. Informational brochures that touch on remodeling issues and the tax advantages of NRHP listings can also be made available by the City as part of its education effort. Finally, lectures and workshops given by the members of the DHP can be used to better inform the community about preservation issues and techniques. |
