UPDATE (Nov. 11, 2019): At the meeting mentioned below, the HPC declined to designate this property as historic because of the changes made to it over the years.
At a special meeting on Monday, Nov. 11, the City of Milwaukee's Historic Preservation Committee will discuss giving temporary historic designation to the Garner-Ranney-Schutz House at 1247 N. Milwaukee St.
The Victorian Gothic house, built in 1865, sits on a corner lot at Knapp Street where a company headed by Milwaukee Bucks player Pat Connaughton plans to build a new apartment development.
When a permit to demolish the home was filed with the city, Milwaukee Preservation Alliance's Dawn McCarthy – the group's past president – filed an application for temporary designation.
"The significance of this site and structure is it is one of the last historic single-family residences in the downtown area," McCarthy wrote on the application.
"It shows the architecture of a period in Milwaukee of early residential architecture, which is heavily influenced by German immigrants. Theo Schutz, the architect who resided there for many years, was very influential in the development of both commercial and residential architecture in Milwaukee."
The building – erected by Dr. John E. Garner – was converted to a duplex in 1918 by Schutz, who lived there from 1892 until his death in 1923.
According to a report in Biz Times Milwaukee – which includes a rendering of the exterior of the planned four-story apartment building – a permanent historic designation application was filed at the same time as the temporary designation application.
The Historic Preservation Commission has the power to bestow temporary designation, but the Common Council must also vote to affirm permanent historic status.
New York-based Beach House LLC, of which Connaughton is president, is the project developer.
The meeting is slated for 3 p.m. in Room 301-B at City Hall, 200 E. Wells St.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
