Property Record
5706 8TH AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Kenosha Elks Club |
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| Other Name: | Kenosha Institute of Arts |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 9526 |
| Location (Address): | 5706 8TH AVE |
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| County: | Kenosha |
| City: | Kenosha |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1919 |
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| Additions: | 2019 |
| Survey Date: | 1975 |
| Historic Use: | meeting hall |
| Architectural Style: | Colonial Revival/Georgian Revival |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Robert A. Messmer |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Kenosha Elks Club |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 11/13/2017 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 8/18/2017 |
| 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 State Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation-Public History. Organized in 1901, the Kenosha lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks built this impressive clubhouse in 1917. Milwaukee-based architect Robert Messmer was an Elk himself, and Elks pride themselves on their conviviality and sense of humor. Nonetheless, this Georgian Revival clubhouse is sober, even stately, in its horizontally emphatic, symmetrical design. Some of its stateliness comes from the classically inspired brickwork: brick rustication on the ground floor, brick voussoirs over the rectangular entrances, and brick quoins in the second and third stories. But the building’s most stately element is its grand portico, centered on the main facade. Stocky brick piers on the first floor give way to widely spaced Tuscan columns gracing a two-story open gallery. Behind the columns, generous windows with fanlights recede between brick pilasters. The WHS conditionally waived its 30 day raze notice on 1/27/2012. 2011 fire extensively damaged the interior |
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| Bibliographic References: | Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |