Property Record
914 REGENT ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Italian Workmen's Club |
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| Other Name: | Italian Workmen's Club |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 111710 |
| Location (Address): | 914 REGENT ST |
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| County: | Dane |
| City: | Madison |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1922 |
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| Additions: | 1936 |
| Survey Date: | 19832023 |
| Historic Use: | social recreational/fraternal hall |
| Architectural Style: | Commercial Vernacular |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Law, Law & Potter (1936) |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Italian Workmen's Club |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 7/24/2024 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 5/24/2024 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' 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 Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. Map Code 0709-232-2409-5. Older building dating from 1922, remodeled by the Club in 1936 Madison Landmark 04-16-90. Organized in 1912 as a mutual benefit organization for Italian-American laborers in Madison. Still active in 2023. "The Italian immigrants who came to Madison around 1900 soon created their own local institutions, as had other national groups who had arrived here before them. These institutions served both secular and religious purposes and they helped to give the new arrivals a sense of community. Many of the buildings associated with Madison's Italian-American institutions such as St. Joseph's Church (1915) were later demolished by urban renewal projects in the Greenbush. Also demolished were most of the area's Italian restaurants, which were once so numerous that the intersection of Park and Regent Streets was known throughout Madison as "Spaghetti Corners." Today the only survivor is Josie's Restaurant (906 Regent Street), built in 1941 as Jimmie's.*** Just two doors away from Josie's is the most important of the surviving institutions associated with this once vibrant ethnic neighborhood--the Italian Workmen's Club. This club was founded as a mutual benefit organization in 1912 to help members burdened by the costs of illness, injury or death. By 1922 its members were able to build their own clubhouse using volunteer labor and equipment donated in part by local contractor and former city engineer, John Icke. The club has served for years as a community social center. It continues to thrive with over 250 members." The Greenbush-Vilas Neighborhood: A Walking Tour. Madison Landmarks Commission and the Brittingham-Vilas Neighborhood Association, 1991. ***906 Regent was demolished circa 2009. The current building on this site (4 N. Park St.) erected in 2010 per Madison city assessor site. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Building Permit (1936), city directory, plaque on building. The Greenbush-Vilas Neighborhood: A Walking Tour. Madison Landmarks Commission and the Brittingham-Vilas Neighborhood Association, 1991. Allen, Anne Beiser. E, Paisan!: A Centennial History of the Italian Workmen's Club., Madison, WI, 2012. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |