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Nearly a decade ago, local columnist Jim Stingl quoted a local attorney as calling the Safety Building, “the dive bar of court buildings.”
It's true that the 450,000-square-foot building, at 821 W. State St., has long been notorious.
Over the years, unhoused people have set up camp in the stairwells, heavy exterior masonry has fallen off the exterior and more recently it's been noted that there were 852 emergency incidents in 2024 due in large part to the fact that there are no back corridors to help segregate suspects from witnesses, jurors, attorneys, judges and other court workers, and the general public, which often includes the families of both victims and the accused.
"We are using the same hallways as the general public," says Aaron Dobson, an inspector with the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office. "It is just not the safest way to do business."
In 2024 – as the County courts processed 111,398 cases (a total higher than in Dane, Waukesha and Brown Counties combined) – sheriff's deputies did 6,300 suspect transports, including about 10 percent that are considered high risk, which means there are multiple deputies walking a single suspect.
When there is an incident in one of the corridors and the call for assistance goes out, the deputies that respond are the nearest ones to the scene. In the Safety Building those are typically bailiffs in the courtrooms.
"When the alarm goes off," explains Carl Ashley, Chief Judge of the First Judicial District, "there's like 10 deputies running over there. We have limited deputies, so my other judges now can't run their (trial) calendars because the bailiffs are gone.
"It's all about efficiency. We don't need more jail space. We need to be able to get these cases resolved for the family members, the staff and our community more efficiently, and a new building will allow us to do that."
Another result of the corridor setup is that it leads to mistrials, says Aaron Hertzberg. Director of Administrative Services at Milwaukee County.
"The deputies work on timing and coordination ... making sure they don't run into jurors in the hallway," he says. "If a juror sees an individual in their jail uniform, that juror gets kicked from the trial. There's a potential of bias that comes into play.
"If an entire jury sees an individual, it's a mistrial. We stop. We have to start over and reschedule. We're not talking about tomorrow, we're not talking about next week. We're often looking at rescheduling four or five months out on the court calendars."
The costs of all of these incidents and delays is not insignificant.
"The Supreme Court rules say we should have these different areas segregated, and they're not," says Judge Ashley. "There's no dignity for those folks going down a public hallway."
Ashley tells a story, too, of a confrontation that turned violent when a jury exiting a courtroom encountered the angry family of the convicted.
Not only is there no dignity, there is often no privacy or confidentiality as a lack of dedicated consultation space means that lawyers often confer with their clients and their families right out in the corridor. In the County Courthouse, they typically lay out their paperwork on top of a pair of trash bins in the corner, which are the only available surface during these consultations.
Consider, too, that the Safety Building has about 14 floors of useless jail space. Despite the fact that the building is six stories tall, the jail floors are differently arranged and there are actually 10 floors of cells in the former County jail and another four floors of empty cells on the old City jail side.
The cells in the building have been empty since the County built a new jail next door in 1992.
"The space can no longer be used," Dobson says, "You can't make this into office space (or) a new courtroom. It's nothing but steel bars and cells. The only use we've really found for it is storage."
And we haven't even discussed the fact that the courtrooms vary widely in size and setup, meaning that judges are often forced to trade courtrooms to accommodate jury selection or large public attendance, and the technology that's been installed is just sitting out on the floor where it's not just unsightly but also a trip hazard.
Some jury deliberation rooms lack restrooms, despite being required by the Supreme Court.
Deferred maintenance and other repair and upkeep costs are estimated to hover around $300 million.
Hence, for the better part of 10 years, there have been calls for a replacement for the building, which was begun in 1927 and completed three years later.
A little history
Calls for the current building to be constructed in the first place began in 1909, so perhaps a decade isn’t too bad, compared to 21 years.
While it might not appear that the building was set up for courts it, in fact, was. And when it was completed, it was considered an improvement over its predecessor.
By the early part of the 20th century, Milwaukee’s courthouse, police headquarters (which had then been heavily damaged in 1917 by a bomb) and jail were aging and considered inadequate ... few argued that.
“Today we are forced to handcuff and chain young men, many of them not really criminals but young men who have made a mistake, with criminals of the worst type, and then drag them through the busiest streets to the court rooms,” said Sheriff Phil Westfahl in 1923. “It is morally wrong to parade many of these young men before the public as we are forced to do now and the system itself is inefficient and costly to the public.”
Sound familiar?
A plan was hatched to create a modern Civic Center where all of these facilities – and related ones – could be housed together in a campus that would be a model for other cities. This, at a time when civic improvement and government efficiency were all the rage.
By 1923, discussion had really heated up on a new Public Safety Building, which would be a joint County-City effort and the first building constructed at the new Civic Center on a hill that begins to rise up west from about 7th Street, bounded by 8th and 9th Streets, State Street and Kilbourn Avenue (then called Cedar Street).
Of course, as these things go, there were many details and each was worthy of discussion, if not over-discussion.
In March 1923, the Common Council’s committee on buildings and grounds suggested moving the site of the center east, to the block between 6th and 7th Streets, between Kilbourn and State, in part because it already owned 90 percent of that land, which would reduce costs as well as speed up construction since land would not need to be acquired, as would be the case at the original site, only a small portion of which had been bought by the city, using $28,000 of its $500,000 project budget.
It was also pointed out that 6th Street offered better transit and vehicle access.
“Where do we go from here,” asked the Milwaukee Sentinel on July 1, 1923.
The answer, ultimately, turned out to be “back to the site originally suggested.”
Despite the fact that the County and City governments were collaborating on the building that they would share, the collaboration only went so far, and while the County tapped local architect Alfred C. Clas and his firm, Clas, Shepherd & Clas (the other Clas was his son Rubens), the City opted for New York architect Albert Randolph Ross.
Born in Massachusetts in 1868, Ross, who studied architecture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was the son of architect John W. Ross, who moved to Davenport, Iowa in 1874, where he designed the town’s city hall.
After graduating from high school in Davenport in 1884, the younger Ross worked in his father’s office for four years. He then headed east to study sculpture. After spending a year in the office of Buffalo architect Charles Day Swan, Ross landed a gig with the prestigious McKim, Mead and White, where he stayed for six years before forming a short-lived partnership in 1898 with William S. Ackerman.
Ross quickly became known for his library designs and he drew Carnegie and other public libraries all over New York, New Jersey and New England, and as far west as Columbus, Ohio.
It’s unclear who took the lead on the design, though there are numerous reports of the two architects collaborating on the project, which has an Art Deco/Moderne exterior.
It’s intriguing to think Ross was the force behind that facade, as Clas didn’t do much Deco work.
In a long statement, published in local newspapers, Ross appeared to be laying it on quite thick: “You have a handsome city and a beautiful bay which should be taken advantage of as soon as possible,” he said. “The city is also fortunate in the personnel of the commission which has charge of the civic center and city planning work. It is especially fortunately in having as the head of the commission W. H. Schuchardt, who is fitted by training, ability, profession and public spirit to take the lead in such an undertaking. I do not know of any place where everything unites so harmoniously for the creation of a beautiful and useful group of buildings.”
He also complimented the lakefront, the river and Clas’ riverwalk plan and more. But he also spoke of the Civic Center as an opportunity for national renown.
“The opportunity given Milwaukee to be a leader in setting an example for the architect of the entire city to lead in departing from the hackneyed things architecturally, appeals to me as an architect,” he said.
“We are, I believe, on the verge of a new era in architecture. There is to be a breaking away from the old classic stuff and its familiar columns, often silly. Milwaukee, in starting its group of buildings, has a chance to do something great, impressive, refreshing and at the same time economical.”
But, consider then that when Ross, in 1927, won a national design competition for the new Milwaukee County courthouse – which drew 55 entries including 17 from Milwaukee firms and drawings from national firms like those of George B. Post & Sons, Robert Hood and Guy Lowell) – it was for a Beaux Arts “million dollar rockpile” (in the words of Frank Lloyd Wright) adorned with lots of “old classical stuff and its familiar columns.”
So, we don’t know for sure whose idea it was to go Deco on the exterior ... perhaps it was a true collaboration.
In February 1924, William Schuchardt – who was a member of an advisory committee of local architects interested in the Civic Center project – traveled to New York to meet with Ross. In May, Ross came to Milwaukee to meet with Clas, with whom some preliminary sketches had already been completed.
At that time, the Journal wrote, Clas said, “thus far no difficulties have been encountered in designing the two buildings which are to be united as one and built jointly by the city and county and that the complete plans and specifications will be completed within a few months.”
But, the plans were too much, calling for a $2.6 million six-story structure that exceeded the available budgets, thus they scaled back the size of the floor plates, but not the number of floors, and in June the revision was accepted.
That same month, condemnation of the site land began.
As site acquisition and other work moved ahead, the Citizens’ Bureau of Milwaukee issued a report saying there was no need for a new safety building and city Comptroller L. M. Kotecki criticized the cost of the project.
By spring 1926, tenants on the site were told to vacate by June 1 and it was announced that the morgue and coroner’s office would also be relocated to the building, “because of the growing importance accorded the new science of medicine in criminology.” in the words of the Sentinel.
More details were released about the project, including the fact that Clas had added a rooftop recreation space for prisoners.
But later that year, in November 1926, Ross arrived in Milwaukee to collaborate again with Clas to finalize the plans, which had been held up by the fact that the grading levels for the surrounding streets had not yet been fixed by the Common Council.
With those details finally sorted, the drawings could be completed and on the last day of the year, the newspapers shared an exterior rendering of the building, along with some information.
The six-story building would be 270x234 feet with a 140x90 court, and would cost around $2.5 million. The County would occupy the west half and the City the east.
The main entrance was to face south with other entrances on State Street.
The County side of the building would have space for the sheriff and deputies, and the morgue, plus two-story municipal and district court rooms with offices and other spaces for court attaches. The fifth floor would be home to the district attorney and aides.
The cells would accommodate 150 male prisoners and 50 female prisoners with separate men’s and women’s exercise areas on the roof, served by an elevator for prisoners.
On the City’s side would be space for the police department, including a shooting gallery, gym and the lower floor of the court, with a glass roof, would serve as a drill hall. There would also be space for fire and police commissioners.
Above the two south entrances were to be a pair of carved stone reliefs – each 13 feet long and seven feet high – designed by Ross and carved in place by New York sculptor Maxfield H. Kieck.
“Safety” was the theme of the panel above the County entrance and “Equity” adorned the City portal.
Unfortunately I could not photograph these as access to the south side of the building is limited at the moment by construction fencing around MacArthur Square.
Exterior lighting was to be a series of ornate lanterns, which you can still see hanging outside today, along with the carved stone bands and spandrel ornamentation.
However, one of the carefully considered details, apparently, was not how to solve Sheriff Westfahl's issue of having to bring suspects past the general public on the way to court rooms, since it still happens to the this day.
The first piles to support the foundation were driven on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 1927 and on Aug. 31, 1928 the City held a cornerstone laying ceremony with Mayor Daniel Hoan, council members, 300 policemen, the police band, members of the Old Settlers’ Club and others, joined by 1,000 spectators lining 8th Street.
By late October 1928, the City side of the building was getting its Bedford limestone skin and was expected to be enclosed by the end of November.
Because bids for the stone on the County side were not accepted until later, its stone installation was not underway until December.
The idea of the building being approached as two separate but united buildings may seem absurd, but the County reported that the method saved $69,000 on the steel fabrication and installation alone.
Perhaps this was how the County was able to make its interior more handsome. While the City side has marble wainscoting and rather plain terrazzo floors. The County side has floor to ceiling marble in some spaces, with carved ornament, and more elaborated inlaid floors.
The County cornerstone was laid on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 1929.
That November, the City side was deemed complete and departments were told they could begin moving in. But with hundreds of workers still scurrying around completing final tasks and most of the furniture still not yet delivered or installed, only the district attorney’s office decided to move in on Feb. 1 and that’s because the lease on its current office space was set to expire Jan. 30.
The sheriff moved in soon after with the others following in the ensuing weeks and months.
In June, Clas submitted the bill for its architects’ fees – the customary five percent of the total cost – which amounted to $85,740, plus $987 for four percent of the $24,678 “extras.”
It’s unclear how much Ross was paid, but it likely would’ve been similar plus, perhaps, travel expenses, and those related to the office he opened in Milwaukee during construction of the building and his “million dollar rockpile” next door, completed in 1931.
The shared building didn’t last all that long, as in 1963, the City floated the idea of building a new police administration and municipal court building next door, if the County would buy the City’s share of the Safety Building, which the Common Council appraised as $2.98 million.
The County expressed interest and offered $1 million, leading the City to balk.
In October 1966, a deal was struck and the County bought the east half of the building for $2,492,500 in January 1967.
The east side of the building emptied out in 1971 when the police department's new headquarters and municipal court building was completed next door, and, as noted earlier, the cells went dark after the County built its new jail in 1992.
Where do we go from here?
Now, the County says the building is effectively unsafe.
Much of it is not ADA compliant, the exterior is crumbling, windows are broken and pipes leak.
On a recent tour I saw peeling paint, walls that had been broken open to access pipes for repairs and were never re-plastered.
“The electrical system has exceeded its useful lifespan, air distribution is limited without mechanical ventilation, air quality issues exist, and there is known asbestos and lead-containing materials in the building,” according to a County website.
The large roof over the sheriff's department gym, which occupies the ground level of the light well, is clearly beyond its useful life.
“60,000 square feet (20 percent) sit vacant due to low ceiling heights, uneven flooring and inadequate column density that make the space unsafe and undignified.”
Thus in 2016, an advisory group was set up to deal with these issues and it recommended replacing the building and combining all criminal courts into a single building – because many of the same issues afflict the County Courthouse – a recommendation that was seconded by a Wisconsin Policy Forum report in 2018.
If the courts were united in a new building, the County, says Hertzberg, could use former courtroom space in the Courthouse, for much needed meeting and consultation space as well as office space for departments currently occupying other sites.
That 2018 report put the cost of a new building at more than $300 million. With inflation that amount has risen to between $400 and $500 million now.
If nothing is done, the County argues, mistrials will continue and potentially grow, backlogs of cases could increase and the deferred maintenance will continue to rise.
The Public Policy Forum report noted that similar projects in other cities were built using county bonds, state funds, state-approved court fees, a special sales tax and other funding sources.
"This isn't just a couple coats of paint that is needed," says County Executive David Crowley. "This is really trying to create more operational efficiencies, finding ways to make sure that we continue to keep all of our residents, all of our jurors, all of our staff in this building safe, as well."
Crowley hopes a replacement can be completed by 2031.
"This is going to be a generational investment for Milwaukee County," he says. "The longer we delay, the more we're going to have to pay."
That leads us to ask on May 13, 2025: “Where do we go from here?”
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.
