Property Record
E PARK AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | ADMINISTRATION BUILDING - WI Home for the Feebleminded |
|---|---|
| Other Name: | GENERAL SERVICES |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 3264 |
| Location (Address): | E PARK AVE |
|---|---|
| County: | Chippewa |
| City: | Chippewa Falls |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
| Section: | |
| Quarter Section: | |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: |
| Year Built: | 1902 |
|---|---|
| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 19931979 |
| Historic Use: | small office building |
| Architectural Style: | Colonial Revival/Georgian Revival |
| Structural System: | Brick |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Van Ryn & De Gelleke |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
|---|---|
| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' (Wisconsin Home for the Feebleminded) exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the State Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation. Large round arched windows with tracery and multi-paned rectangular windows with stone lintels; west bay window; brick piers and buttresses articulate brick surfaces; octagonal flat roofed towers flank entrance with elaborate pedimented window surround above and an open balustrated porch with heavy brackets and Doric columns. The most elaborate structure in the Wisconsin Home for the Feebleminded complex, the original administration building was designed under the influence of the English Renaissance Revival mode of the Neo-Classical Revival by Milwaukee architect Van Ryn and De Gelleke in 1902. Constructed with red pressed brick and Colfax cut-stone by the local firm the Chippewa Falls Constuction Company, the former administration building built in the shape of a Greek cross at the cost of $65,000 is further characterized by octagonal three-story flat roofed towers flanking the gable roofed facade and an open front porch supported by grooved columns and decorated by heavy brackets under the porch eaves. In a personalized interpretation of the style Van Ryn and De Gelleke ornamented plain brick surfaces with strategically placed grandiose classical details such as the elaborate upper front window enfrangement featuring a pedimented entablature on top typically associated with the classical Beau-Arts style and the large round arched windows placed between buttresses in the rear wing. Part of the historic institutional care complex now known as the Northern Wisconsin Center for the Developmentally Disabled, the original Administration Building is architecturally significant as an excellent representative of institutional architecture at the turn of the century. The Wisconsin Home for the Feebleminded was established by the state legislature in 1895 which appropriated $100,000 to purchase land and construct suitable buildings. The first resident was admitted in June of that year. In 1923, the name was changed to the Northern Wisconsin Colony and Training School. It is currently known as the Northern Center for the Developmentally Disabled. This building was constructed in 1901 as a combined administration building and dining hall. It is presently used as General Services and includes a Chapel, Canteen and Service Center. This building is of significant historical interest to the State of Wisconsin because it is part of the historic development of the Wisconsin Home for the Feebleminded, established the State's commitment to the care of the development disabled. This building is of significant historical interest within the institution as a whole because it was the original administration building. RELATED BUILDINGS: outbuildings (11/33, 34, 36, 37), residence (15/33), cottages (15/21, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 34, 36), admin/chapel (15/23, 31, 37). |
|---|---|
| Bibliographic References: | (A) Building Inscription, General Services Building. (B) Wisconsin Blue Book (Madison: State of Wisconsin, 1909), pp. 654-655. (C) A History of the State Board of Control of Wisconsin and the State Institutions, 1849-1939, (Madison, Wisconsin: State Board of Control, 1939), pp. 179-180. (D) Chippewa Falls (WI) Daily Independent 22 February, 1901 and 20 June, 1901. (E) Chippewa County Wisconsin Past and Present, vol. I, pp. 289-290. Chippewa Falls Herald Telegram 6/17/1997. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |