Property Record
127 S ADAMS ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Brown County Safety Building |
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| Other Name: | Brown County Safety Building |
| Contributing: | No |
| Reference Number: | 29470 |
| Location (Address): | 127 S ADAMS ST |
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| County: | Brown |
| City: | Green Bay |
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| Year Built: | 1964 |
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| Additions: | 1987 |
| Survey Date: | 19852017 |
| Historic Use: | government office/facility |
| Architectural Style: | Brutalism |
| Structural System: | Masonry |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Oliver Herrick |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Green Bay Downtown Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 5/13/2019 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 2/16/2018 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | Whole building is being resided in stucco as of the survey date (7/28/87). New siding is placed over the original white brick siding and is done in alternating dark and light bands. 2017-NRHP District Nomination Sanborn Map information identifies this building as the Brown County Jail, a four-story building constructed in 1964, connected to the neighboring 1963-built 121 S. Adams via a narrow, two-story hyphen at the east end of the north façade. Unfortunately, the Sanborn Map information is in error; this building was constructed as the four-story Brown County Safety Building and its neighbor to the north (see 121 S. Adams) was the Brown County Jail. Adding to the confusion, both buildings were frequently referred to singularly as the Brown County Safety Building, with a three-story “jail portion” under construction in 1963. The architect for both buildings was Oliver Herrick. The Sanborn Map lists the street address for this building as 127 S. Adams; however, City Directory information indicates that the actual mailing address for this building was 129 S. Adams from 1965 through 1973. For 1974 and onwards, both this building and the neighboring Brown County Jail shared a single mailing address—125 S. Adams. This building was constructed as a Civil Defense Emergency Operating Center. Since its construction, this building has hosted several different county and local government offices over the years, including court rooms on the third and fourth floors, and continues in county service today. As built, this building was characterized by its white brick façades and narrow window openings. A 1980 building permit for a 3-story addition measuring roughly 19’ x 76’ may correspond to when the open space between this building’s north façade and the south façade of 121 S. Adams was filled . In 1987 a major renovation of county facilities was undertaken. Part of that renovation included the residing of both this building and the neighboring 121 S. Adams with stucco panels. Today the building is characterized by the 1987 flush stucco exterior. On the south façade, the shallow seams between the stucco panels divide the building into seven bays (the third and fifth bays are slightly narrower than the others). The outer bays have no window or door openings. Between these outer bays, each floor has seventeen equally spaced, narrow window openings. Each opening is separated from its neighbors by a vertical stucco panel, each roughly equal in width to the adjacent window openings. In the narrower third and fifth bays the sum of windows and vertical bands is six (three windows and three stucco panels). In the second, fourth, and sixth bays the sum of windows and vertical bands is seven (four windows and three stucco panels in the second & sixth bays, three windows and four stucco panels in the fourth bay). Alternating window openings have been closed off at the first and second floors (even- numbered openings closed on the first floor, odd-numbered openings closed on the second floor). These closures are recessed from the flush stucco façade, roughly the same distance as the recess for the neighboring windows. The west façade is similar to the south, but here the building’s width is divided by the stucco panels into five bays. The outer bays have no openings. The upper two stories each have eleven narrow windows. Like the south façade, here the second story has alternating window openings closed off (odd-numbered openings). At the ground floor, an entrance door replaces the two southern most window openings, leaving a total of nine, with alternating windows closed off (even-numbered) as well as the southern-most window opening (the ninth, as counted from left-to-right). The primary entrance is now in the addition between the two buildings, located on this west façade, but projecting from the façade (flush with the west façade of the neighboring 121 S. Adams, which sits closer to the street than 127 S. Adams) and facing to the south. The second, third, and fourth floors of the east (rear) façade of the building are identical to the primary (west) façade. The ground floor has relatively few openings, and the northern half abuts a one-story garage entrance. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Date of construction: Sanborn-Perris Map Co., Inc. Fire Insurance Map of Green Bay, Wisconsin. 1957. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |