| Additional Information: | ENTRY HAS MULTIPLE SIDE LIGHTS ANDPEDIMENT ON PAIRED COLUMNSSTONE QUOINS
2013 New Holstein Survey results:
This property is comprised of a central rectangular, brick-faced facility with a hipped roof and a flat-roofed wing to the rear (1912; 1924; 1937); a 1915 jail unit to the east; as well as a rectangular, hipped-roof, brick building with concrete quoining to the west. Oriented to Park Avenue, the main building is Colonial (or Georgian) Revival in style and features stone corner quoining and wide stone window heads. A slightly projecting and gabled entry features paired pilasters to each side of the central doorway with sidelights and an overhead transom. A single, plate-glass window is located to either side of the entry; remaining windows are singly arranged. A one-story, flat-roofed reservoir (waterworks) addition extends from the rear and to the south. A small, hipped-roof jail facility, which also exhibits corner stone quoining, is attached to the east.
In 1912, the village of New Holstein voted for municipal light. Plans and specifications were drawn by L.M. Page and, by the end of the year, a plant was built and the streets were lit. As of December 1912, subscribers numbered nearly 125. In 1915, a new jail was needed and the city engaged the firm of Foeller and Schober of Green Bay to do the design and the structure was built at this location. By 1920, the lighting plant was inadequate for the village’s needs and the municipality decided to obtain their electricity from the Wisconsin Traction, Heat and Power Company of Appleton. In 1922, a high-tension line was extended to connect with Wisconsin Public Service lines in Chilton. Also in 1920, residents voted in favor of a municipal waterworks; however, it took until 1924 for this facility to be constructed and in operation along Park Avenue. In 1937, a $20,000 addition was made to the front of the subject utility/waterworks building to expand it for its use as the city hall. This building served dual utility and city hall functions until the current, 1970 city hall was built at 2110 Washington Street. The subject facility was then converted for use as a Senior Center. |
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| Bibliographic References: | A front elevation drawing of the power house is in the possession of the New Holstein Historical Society; however, it is undated. They also maintain a copy of the specifications for the Water Utility building and reservoir, provided by Jerry Donohue of Sheboygan. Newsbrief (re: plans and specifications for powerhouse), Calumet County Reporter, 14 August 1912, 1/1; Newsbrief (re: subscribers to electricity), Calumet County Reporter, 12 December 1913, 10/3; Although the plant was in operation by the end of 1912, the building itself was not completed until February 1913, Newsbrief (electric light plant is nearly complete), Chilton Times, 1 February 1913, 2/2; Citations for the construction of the jail are in The American Contractor (Vol. 36), 23 January 1915, 60, and they identify Foeller and Schober of Green Bay as the architects (as does a newsbrief in the Calumet County Reporter on 4 December 1914, 1/4), This was confirmed with a call to its successor firm, Berners Schober in Green Bay, Ian Griffiths, Conversation with Traci E. Schnell, July 2013, Notes on file at Heritage Research, Ltd., Menomonee Falls, WI; Newsbrief (re: village lock up), Calumet County Reporter, 9 October 1914, 1/1; “Waterworks and Sewer Project Carried,” New Holstein Reporter, 5 March 1920, 1/2; “Work to Enlarge City Hall At New Holstein Started,” The Sheboygan Press, 27 August 1937, 4/3. The 1937 addition, however, was not completed by the Green Bay firm. |
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