Thank you for questioning the need to demolish historic
buildings in Hilton proposal for the 600 block of Milwaukee Street (at
least per the Journal Sentinel). I live on the 700 block of Milwaukee Street,
and one of the things that drew me to this location was the presence of numerous
historic buildings and how much the area feels like a neighborhood. I do not
oppose development for the sake of it and would love to see more visitors
downtown, especially on the weekends. But many projects, here and around the
world, have been able to work existing structures into their plans - even
if it's just the facades. I would hate to see nothing but high rise structures
downtown; it would ruin part of what makes downtown so appealing (and perhaps be
harmful to tourism development if we have no remaining Milwaukee history). I
pulled pictures of my building (715 N. Milwaukee) from the County Historical Society.
The 4 pictures I found with my building in them span about 100 years and range
from having horses and buggies in them to VW beetles. What stands out the most
from the photos is how many historic buildings we've already lost along
Wisconsin
Avenue. What a different feel the street and downtown
would have if a high-rise Hilton is directly across the street from the 411
Building - and not in a good way.
If there is a compromise to be reached, that would be
great. Otherwise, please continue to demand reasonable historic preservation so
that we do not end up with the Pfister as the only remaning historic building
downtown.