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Copeland's Service Station, 2001

Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Station prior to rehabilitation. View the property record: AHI 120374

The Copeland Service Station was designed in 1938 by Milwaukee architect Urban Peacock. Though he was best known for theater design, even designing a gas station during the bleak days of the Great Depression must have been welcome work. Peacock used the Streamline Moderne style - a style that evokes the speed of modern transportation by incorporating the horizontal lines and curving forms of streamlined vehicles.

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Copeland's Service Station, 2008

Milwaukee, WI. Station after rehabilitation. View the property record: AHI 120374

By the 1990s the gas station was abandoned and in terrible disrepair. It had leaking underground tanks and a $25,000 delinquent tax bill. Many people doubted that a gas station could be considered "historic." Nevertheless, local resident Cliff Lepke pushed for state and federal recognition of its historic significance. Then Bob Olin came to the rescue, bought the building, and planned to convert the gas station to a coffee shop.

To make his plan feasible, Olin put together a creative package of grants and income tax credits. He received a site assessment grant, a façade improvement grant and a retail start-up grant from the city. He obtained a brownfield cleanup grant from the State Department of Commerce. He also received preservation tax credits which allowed him to deduct 25 percent of the project cost from his state and federal income taxes.

The new coffee shop, Sherman Perk, named after the Sherman Park neighborhood in which it is located, is a successful rehabilitation of the old gas station.

Read more about the history of the Milwaukee's Copeland's Service Station Building in the historic property record on our website.