Property Record
5104 W GREENFIELD AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | West Milwaukee High School |
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| Other Name: | West Milwaukee Intermediate School |
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| Reference Number: | 9284 |
| Location (Address): | 5104 W GREENFIELD AVE |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | West Milwaukee |
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| Year Built: | 1927 |
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| Additions: | 1936 |
| Survey Date: | 198020182021 |
| Historic Use: | elementary, middle, jr.high, or high |
| Architectural Style: | Spanish/Mediterranean Styles |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Cream Brick |
| Architect: | TULLGREN AND SONS; WPA |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
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| 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. ELABORATELY DECORATED ENTRIES. CHECKERBOARD TERRA COTTA ABOVE WINDOWS ON FRONT. ROUND ARCHED ENTRIES. 2018: West Milwaukee High School was constructed in 1927 with an addition constructed by the WPA in 1937 and subsequent additions in 1953. Both the original building and the 1937 addition are 2-stories tall and were constructed in a distinctive Spanish Colonial style that features cream brick walls, red tiled roofs (along outer edges of the roofline along the façade and above the auditorium entrance), and a band of checkerboard terra cotta above the second-story windows. The building is irregular in plan with the front elevation facing south. The primary entrance is located in a slightly projecting center bay and is highly ornamented with a portico containing three round-arched doorways separated by decoratively carved pilasters with ornamental friezes above. The roof of the portico serves as a balcony accessed by a large bank of windows at the second story. The second-story window bank is accentuated by a highly elaborate Alhambresque crown. The 1937 addition was constructed off of the east end of the original building and contains a large auditorium space (later named the Liberace Auditorium after Walter Liberace, a former graduate of the school). The façade of the addition is defined by two heavy end bays with a recessed center bay containing a 3-bay arcade with ornamental carving along its façade. The arcade is sheltered by a red-tiled shed roof and contains three pairs of double doors that are accessed by a wide concrete stairway. The recessed wall above the arcade contains a small rosette window below a low-pitched parapet. 2021 - Resurveyed |
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| Bibliographic References: | MASTER BUILDER, NOVEMBER 1926, P. 27. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |