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5706 8TH AVE | Property Record | Wisconsin Historical Society

Property Record

5706 8TH AVE

Architecture and History Inventory
5706 8TH AVE | Property Record | Wisconsin Historical Society
NAMES
Historic Name:Kenosha Elks Club
Other Name:Kenosha Institute of Arts
Contributing:
Reference Number:9526
PROPERTY LOCATION
Location (Address):5706 8TH AVE
County:Kenosha
City:Kenosha
Township/Village:
Unincorporated Community:
Town:
Range:
Direction:
Section:
Quarter Section:
Quarter/Quarter Section:
PROPERTY FEATURES
Year Built:1919
Additions: 2019
Survey Date:1975
Historic Use:social recreational/fraternal 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 AND STATE REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
National/State Register Listing Name: Kenosha Elks Club
National Register Listing Date:11/13/2017
State Register Listing Date:8/18/2017
National Register Multiple Property Name:
NOTES
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
Bibliographic References:Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript.
RECORD LOCATION
Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin

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Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory Citation
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