Milwaukee To Lose Unique Brewing Landmark; Preservationists, Where Are You?

Stephanie Allewalt's blog posting at rooflines.org is a stunner: the Schlitz Brew House is scheduled for demolition:

Milwaukee is about to lose an incredible economic opportunity due to an inability to capitalize on our talents.

To kick off the new year and my inaugural Rooflines blog post, I'd like to begin by outlining an "Opportunity Profile..."

Opportunity Profile

• Six-story structure
• 126,761 square feet
• Victorian Romanesque Revival style
• "Cream City Brick" and Limestone-Trimmed Exterior
• Scheduled for demolition in ~ 2 months

Meet the Schlitz Brew House in Milwaukee: the building that made "the beer that made Milwaukee famous."

To too many Milwaukeeans today, this one-of-a-kind diamond in the rough is just another structure to bulldoze in the name of progress. How this surprising dismissal has become mainstream stems from the collective voice of our regional commercial real estate and development community: newer is often better, and 122 years old = undesirable.

Milwaukee preservationists - - where are you?

(Allewalt, the blog author, is also the fund development manager at Northwest Side Community Development Corporation.)