An informational meeting to discuss the possible demolition of one of the buildings in the Central City Plaza complex on 6th and Vine Streets has been set for Sunday, Feb. 23, from 1 to 3 p.m. 

The meeting, at Pilcrow Coffee, 416 W. Walnut St., will take up the future of the building, which was part of the first Black-owned and Black-operated shopping center in the state and is currently facing demolition.

The Salvation Army owns the property and wants to demolish the building at 1747 N. 6th St. as part of its plan to build a homeless shelter. It does not plan to demolish a larger building it also owns in the complex on 7th and Vine. (The Salvation Army does not own the complex's third building, on the corner of 6th and Walnut.)

The meeting will offer a chance to learn about the history of the complex, and look at potential ways the threatened building can be preserved and adapted to meet the Salvation Army's needs, according to Emma Rudd, executive director of Milwaukee Preservation Alliance.

The complex, which dates to 1973, was designed by Alonzo Robinson Jr., who became the state’s first licensed Black architect in 1952. Robinson, who died in 2000, designed roughly 120 projects, including the fire house and MFD headquarters on James Lovell Drive at Wells Street.

Robinson's work also included public buildings, churches, homes and other building types, and Central City Plaza was his largest commercial project.

The plaza – a rare Milwaukee example of New Formalism, which adapted classical-style elements into stark Midcentury architecture – has been recognized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Office and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, according to MPA. 

The complex was developed by the Central City Development Corporation (CCDC) at a cost of $3 million more than 50 years ago. 

It was home to 14 Black-owned businesses – including a grocery store, a liquor store, offices, hotel rooms and more – and employed more than 100 people at a time, Rudd points out, when fewer than 1 percent of businesses in the state were owned by African Americans. 

The threatened builing housed the Pago Liquor Store.

The Central City Plaza was spearheaded by NAACP Milwaukee President Felmers Chaney, who was also Milwaukee's first Black police sergeant and founder of the Black-owned North Milwaukee State Bank.

However, financial struggles led the U.S. Small Business Administration to take ownership in 1975 and two years later, the plaza was empty. It later served as a health center and a headquarters for Yellow Cab Co.

According to a Historic Preservation Commission meeting website, "This site is currently being used as temporary housing. The Salvation Army purchased the building in May 2024 and they also own the large, horse-shoe shaped building (at 7th and Vine).

"When they bought the building they were unaware of its history."

The Milwaukee Preservation Alliance, Docomomo Wisconsin and Milwaukee architect Chris Rute have sought historic designation for the three buildings in the complex and the Historic Preservation Commission – which discussed the issue at previous meetings – is expected to take it up again in March.

"The building currently has a pending demolition permit although the other buildings are equally worthy of designation," the website notes, adding that the city's historic preservation office staff supports designation.