By Bobby Tanzilo Senior Editor/Writer Published Oct 14, 2020 at 1:02 PM

Two years ago, I wrote that the City of Milwaukee had listed the former Forest Home Library for sale after it was replaced with a new branch a bit east on Mitchell Street.

While Voces de la Frontera had considered buying the building, at 1432 W. Forest Home Ave., that plan fell through, and now a new plan calls for tearing down the 1966 Midcentury Modern library designed by architect Robert Van Lanen of von Grossmann, Burroughs, Van Lanen and Associates, and replacing it with a medical clinic.

In fact, the proposal that's afoot would have Children's Hospital of Wisconsin erecting a new $5.4 million clinic at the site.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, the Milwaukee Preservation Alliance wrote, "We're lucky in Milwaukee to have an incredible collection of late 19th and early 20th century architecture, but we also have a treasure trove of more recent gems from the mid-century period. It is tempting to think of Modernist buildings as too new to be historic, but just as Victorian was in danger in the 1920s and Art Deco became endangered by the mid century, we have regularly and unfortunately struggled to recognize the value of the recent past until it's too late.

"Modernism IS significant, however, and we must begin to wrestle with its value and what we can do to protect it in the face of increased danger."

UPDATE: On Thursday, the City of Milwaukee's Historic Preservation Commission received an application from Kelsey Kuehn and Eric Vogel of Vogel Design Group to grant temporary and permanent historic designation on the building an attempt to save it. A public meeting has been scheduled for Monday, Nov. 2 at 3 p.m. at City Hall.

 

 

 

"We do very much support the use of the property for a health center but believe there can be a win-win where the health center and building coexist," said Milwaukee Preservation Alliance Executive Director Jeremy Ebersole.

Bobby Tanzilo Senior Editor/Writer

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.