901 E WASHINGTON AVE

Summary

Klueter & Company Wholesale Grocery Warehouse
901 East Washington Avenue, Madison, Dane County
Architect: Alvan Small
Date of Construction: 1916

The Klueter & Company wholesale grocery business was established by Julius Klueter circa 1907. By that time, the Klueter name had long been associated with Madison’s retail grocery business, having been established by Julius’ father Herman in circa 1870. When Julius entered into the wholesale grocery trade, there was only one other such firm in the city. Needing larger facilities than the family’s flour and feed mill could provide, a new fireproof warehouse building was completed in 1916 at an approximate cost of $55,000 in the city’s “factory district.”

Although not technically an industrial building, the Klueter warehouse employed two primary characteristics typical of early twentieth century industrial architecture--a structurally sound, reinforced concrete frame and large expanses of steel factory sash which provided for natural light into the building. Ornamentation of most industrial-type buildings of that time usually was austere; however, some attempt at decoration was very often made and, most often it was through the varied use of brickwork. The building’s architect, Madison’s Alvan Small, took that varied use of brickwork one step further and applied an actual architectural style to the building. Those efforts led to a local paper identifying it (in 1916) as “one of the finest examples of architecture in Madison.” Anchored by vertical corner towers, the building’s overall horizontal emphasis is seen along both the ground and fifth levels, where raised brick banding is employed, as well as through the continuous soldier brick beltcourse that defines the uppermost floor from the floors below. The raised brick geometric ornamentation at the top of each corner tower—a trademark detail of Small—further expresses the building’s Prairie School styling.

The building was utilized as a warehouse until 2001, after which it stood vacant for years. It was not until 2017 that both an appropriate and successful re-use was found for it—one which utilized both the state and federal tax credit programs. Hotel Indigo is scheduled to open in early 2019.

Property Details

Criteria	Architecture/Engineering
Area Of Significance	Architecture
Period of Significance	1916
Architectural Style	Prairie School
Architect	Alvan Small
Resource Type	Building
Historic Use	Warehouse

Resources Within The Property

Contributing Buildings	1
Contributing Sites	0
Contributing Structures	0
Contributing Objects	0
Non-Contributing Buildings	0
Non-Contributing Sites	0
Non-Contributing Structures	0
Non-Contributing Objects	0

Designations

Historic Status	Listed in the State Register
National Historic Landmark Listing Date	Aug 17, 2018
Historic Status	Listed in the National Register
National Historic Landmark Listing Date	Oct 19, 2018