Every year I like to share a few must-see sites during Historic Milwaukee’s annual Doors Open Milwaukee, which has quickly grown into one of the most fun and well-attended events in the city.
This year's event is slated for Sept. 28-29, and includes more than 140 buildings, art galleries, gardens and other spaces, some of which aren't typically open to the public.
Plus, the virtual option will continue on this year via a series of virtual building content, including photos, videos and 360 virtual reality tours available on the website.
While you're at the website, check out the ticketed events, too. Ticketed tour sales begine for members on Sept. 6 and for the general public on Sept. 13.
You can find a full list of buildings and details here at the Doors Open website, but in the meantime, here, once again, are my picks for some of the best sites to check out during this year’s event.
Click the bold name of each venue below to read more about it.
Happy exploring!
600 East Wisconsin
This Eschweiler-designed building was erected for the Wisconsin Gas Company and the east wall of this structure was the exterior west wall of that earlier adjacent building, now razed. While the giant Giannis mural on the outside is cool, seeing the old ghost sign on what was the outside of that party wall – now inside an office – is at least as fun.
Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church
There are many one-of-a-kind Frank Lloyd Wright structures, but few can match Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church when it comes to instant recognizability and uniqueness. One of Wright's last projects, the building is intriguing on the outside and outright stunning on the inside.
Be sure to get a tour from knowledgeable church member who can explain all the details and the quirky stories about the architect and the building. Seeing it this way has long been one of my absolute favorite Doors Open experiences.
At Random
New this year to Doors Open is At Random, one of Milwaukee's most treasured cocktail lounge experiences. In recent years, new owner John Dye – who also owns the similarly beloved Bryant's (which is also participating) and The Jazz Estate – has been working hard to polish this Bay View gem, which has a long history. Stop in and see how it's coming along.
Best Place
Currently Best Place in The Brewery District on the site of the old (and the current) Pabst Brewery, this 1858 building is the oldest surviving public school building in Milwaukee. Designed by Edward Townsend Mix, it was later sold to Pabst, which used it for offices and other purposes. It's a gem of a place and one that owner Jim Haertel is passionate about. Best Place actually comprises multiple buildings, including Otto Strack's 1880 beauty on Juneau, which housed Capt. Pabst's personal office in an 1892 turret addition, and the single-story visitors' center reception building on the corner, drawn by architect Thomas Van Alyea in 1933.
Milwaukee Alano Club
Home to the Alano Club for more than 70 years, the beautiful house at 1521 N. Prospect Ave. was designed by respected architect Eugene Liebert for a local grain magnate who died before it could be completed. It was long on my bucket list and I finally got to see it earlier this year. Now's your chance, too!
Arts @ Large
After visiting the three-story then-future home of Arts @ Large in Walker’s Point four years ago, I wrote, "There are few things more satisfying to me than seeing a beautiful old – and vacant – building get an overhaul and a new life with a new owner. When that new owner is a Milwaukee nonprofit that works every day to improve the lives of MPS students? Double bonus." What an overhaul and new life the building at 1100 S. 5th St. – built as a retail and apartment building for meat magnate Patrick Cudahy in 1891 – has gotten.
Model Railroad Club / Allis Station
This unusual building built into a train trestle in Walker's Point has long been home to a pioneering Milwaukee model railroading club but before that it was a train station heavily used by factory workers in the area. See what remains of the original station.
Pritzlaff Building
There is so much history in the sprawling Pritzlaff Hardware complex – now a mixed-use facility with apartments, retail shops, a brewery, a restaurant, events space and more – that it's a must-see stop at Doors Open.
Fortunately, the building has an incredible steward in Ken Breunig, who has kept historic features and stocked the corridors and other spaces with original objects and catalogs from the once-huge Pritzlaff hardware empire.
Story Hill Firehouse
One of five bungalow-style firehouses designed by Charles Malig for Milwaukee – all of which survive, though only one remains a working firehouse – has been converted to a beautiful events venue on the West Side. Check it out!
Wisconsin Black Historical Society
Clayborn Benson's labor of love for decades, the Wisconsin Black Historical Society has information and eye-opening displays, archives and a giant events space in a complex that includes a former movie theater, neighborhood library and firehouse.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
