Property Record
100 N JEFFERSON ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Green Bay City Hall |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 31504 |
| Location (Address): | 100 N JEFFERSON ST |
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| County: | Brown |
| City: | Green Bay |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
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| Year Built: | 1956 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 19852017 |
| Historic Use: | city/town/village hall/auditorium |
| Architectural Style: | Other Vernacular |
| Structural System: | Steel Frame |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Foeller, Schober, Berners, Safford and Jahn |
| 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: | 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, Division of Historic Preservation-Public History. Large typical office building of the period. First floor sided in polished granite. Second floor window surrounds also granite. 2017-NRHP District Nomination Green Bay’s purpose-built City Hall building was completed in 1956. The previous City Hall building, constructed in 1901, sat adjacent to (north of) the current building. That older building was razed in late 1956 and replaced with a parking lot for the current City Hall building. That parking lot remains in use as a parking lot today. The architectural firm of Foeller, Schober, Berners, and Jahn was responsible for the contemporary, box-like style design of the building, and very few interior and even fewer exterior changes have been made since its completion. The building retains an exceptionally high degree of integrity. The City Hall building is six stories tall with a seventh story mechanical room portion well set back from the edges of the roof. The first story is clad on all four sides in polished red granite, with polished grey granite porticos for the two main entrances at either end of the west façade. The year of construction is carver into the granite near the north entrance on the west façade, while a “Gateway to the Great Waterway” seal is carved into the granite near the south entrance. The remainder of the building is clad in a cream color brick arranged in an American bond pattern. A third entrance is at the north end of the rear (east) façade, under a metal canopy. The façades of the building are covered in a regular grid of windows. Each floor in the north and south facades has six window openings. Each upper floor in the east and west facades has 16 window openings (each first floor entrance substitutes two window openings). All first story windows are identical and surrounded by the building’s polished granite cladding. All window openings in the upper floors are identical and nearly square (slightly wider than they are tall), except for ten windows in the second floor’s west façade that are noticeably taller than other windows and have granite surrounds (other windows have a minimal sill and are surrounded by the brick exterior cladding only). These ten windows provide light for the council chambers and two adjoining offices. All windows are original and consist of a pair of tall, fixed, rectangular panes above a pair of short, rectangular, hopper panes, all in an aluminum frame. Two-pane, horizontal-sliding, storm windows have been fitted behind these original windows (inside the building) and are invisible from the exterior of the building. The interior of the building has had only minor alterations. Original features such as a terrazzo floor and polished, book-matched, marble slabs covering the walls greet visitors. Similar polished marble slabs cover the lower half of walls in the public halls on upper floors. The building remains in use as Green Bay’s City Hall and is an excellent example of mid-century, contemporary style architecture with high-end material finishes. |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. Sanborn-Perris Map Co., Inc. Fire Insurance Map of Green Bay, Wisconsin, 1957. B. Berners-Schober Associates, Inc. Archives Stick No. 704. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |