Archdiocese plans to stabilize historic Calvary Cemetery gatehouse
A well-known Milwaukee historic building facing possible demolition will receive emergency stabilization work under a new proposal.
Calvary Cemetery’s gatehouse, 5503 W. Blue Mound Road, was constructed in 1897 at Milwaukee’s oldest Catholic cemetery.
The gatehouse, known for its ornate Victorian Gothic design, includes an arched gateway at Calvary Cemetery’s entrance, a bell tower, and a two-story building that served as the cemetery office as well as a residence for caretakers and their families.
The wooden structure, owned by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, has been vacant for several years and is deteriorating.
The Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services in 2021 cited the building for chipping and peeling paint, missing wood siding, loose chimney brick and other signs of exterior disrepair.
Archdiocese officials told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel last fall it would cost an estimated $3 million just to repair the gatehouse’s exterior in accordance with the city’s Historic Preservation Commission requirements. The options included seeking commission approval to demolish the building, which has city historic designation.
The archdiocese is now planning to repair the roof, board the windows, winterize the plumbing and heating systems, and do other work to stabilize the building.
The project will include making repairs “to prevent further deterioration or damage,” as well as removing and storing “architectural elements to protect them from theft or damage,” according to the archdiocese’s proposal.
Those plans were approved Tuesday by commission staff, according to a city document.
The city records don’t provide a cost estimate. An archdiocese representative couldn’t be immediately reached for more information.
Despite that $3 million cost estimate, stabilizing the building to prevent further deterioration should cost significantly less, Tim Askin, a city historic preservation planner, told the Journal Sentinel last fall.
Calvary Cemetery includes Miller Brewing founders
The gatehouse, along with the cemetery, were designated as historic in 1987 by the preservation commission and Common Council.
“The most distinctive feature of the (gatehouse) is the four-story tower and the triumphal arch over the driveway,” according to the designation report.
Calvary Cemetery’s historic and architectural significance includes the gatehouse, its brick Romanesque style chapel and serving as “the final resting-place of many prominent Milwaukeeans including city founder Solomon Juneau and his wife Josette” and the victims of the Lady Elgin shipwreck, the report said.
Also buried there are such prominent business operators as members of the Miller family, who founded Miller Brewing Co., and members of the Cudahy family, who launched meatpacker Patrick Cudahy Inc.