Three Neenah property owners received recognition at the June 20th Common Council meeting for their efforts in improving and restoring their historic properties. Plan now for undertaking or nominating the project that enhances your neighborhood, for recognition in 2013!
Download the Nomination Form.
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
For more information, contact: Carol Kasimor, City of Neenah Department of Community
Development, 920-886-6128, ckasimor@ci.neenah.wi.us
City of Neenah Awards 2012 Historic Property Stewardship Awards
NEENAH, WI (June 21, 2012) – The City of Neenah Landmarks Commission awarded three Neenah property owners certificates for the owners’ efforts in maintaining the historical attributes and helping to preserve Neenah’s historical structures. Three awards were distributed at the June 20, 2012 City Council meeting.
Criteria for earning the newly established award include the following elements:
- The owner has restored or revitalized a residential or commercial/industrial property within the City of Neenah aged 50 years or older.
- The project’s design and materials are consistent with the historic building’s characteristics.
- The owner enhanced the neighborhood through their efforts.
In all three of the 2012 award recipient cases, these criteria were the minimum that has been undertaken and all owners have gone above and beyond, expending significant time, energy, money and care.
Properties recognized for their efforts:
- 516 E. Forest Avenue, Wayne and Ruth Streck
- 201 Pine Street, Mary and Jerry Keepers
- 500 N. Commercial Street, Stephen Gries, Chicago and Northwestern Depot
Details on home properties:
516 E. Forest Avenue, Wayne and Ruth Streck
Built in 1885, the J.C. Kerwin House exemplifies the Victorian style of the late 19th century, displaying Queen Anne and early Georgian Revival influences. During the 1960’s and 1970’s many changes were made to the home including the demolition of the carriage house and splitting the home into a duplex. By the late 1980’s the home was in need of repair and restoration. Wayne and Ruth Streck purchased the house in 1989. Through their own hard work and area restoration artisans, they have sanded, repaired,
refinished, plastered, painted, tiled and rebuilt this historical home to stand as a shining example of an historic home that reflects a period of Neenah’s history of growth and industry.
201 Pine Street, Mary and Jerry Keepers
This recently renovated home has been a part of the Neenah community since its building date of 1879. The Keepers purchased the home in 2006 after walking past it numerous times over the years and dreaming about its potential. Through the restoration process they researched the historical style and aspects of the home in order to retain the character and charm of the built-in shelves, wide trim and French style doors, while modernizing the rooms to create larger more open and light-filled spaces. For the Keepers family, this was a project of love that included help from others, including two of their three sons, and the roof of the home was designed by architect Bob Acord of Contracting Specialists.
500 N. Commercial Street, Stephen Gries
The Chicago and Northwestern Depot was built in 1892 at the height of the paper industry boom. The red brick Richardsonian Romanesque Style building was designed by Charles Sumner Frost, a noted depot architect. The depot saw passenger volumes rivaling those of Milwaukee’s depot through the mid-1950s, including young men going to combat assignments in World Wars I and II, presidential candidates on whistle stop campaigns, and those heading to Wisconsin’s northwoods, among them said to be Al Capone. After passenger service was discontinued in 1970, it stood empty and deteriorating until the G
Group purchased it in 1992. Stephen Gries, Neenah architect, brought the building back from “literally falling down” to its original grandeur. His team exposed the depot’s original 30-foot high vaulted ceiling and converted the space to professional offices that now feature the building’s unique train station elements, and also houses Gries Architectural.
2013 Stewardship Awards
The Landmarks Commission invites the community to nominate properties showing good stewardship for recognition in 2013. Applications are available on the City of Neenah website, and may be nominated by the owner or other community member. Applications are due by March 15, 2013. If available, “before and after” and progress photos are helpful.
“Look around your neighborhood and see what good things are being done to maintain and improve our community!”, said Gerry Andrews, Neenah Landmarks Commission Chair. “Homes large and small as well as businesses are encouraged to be recognized for their efforts.”
About Neenah Landmarks Commission:
Historic preservation became a community concern in 1966 when the home of D.W. Bergstrom was demolished to make way for the present U.S. Post Office. Since then citizens have come together in an effort to save several historical locations in the community. In 1982, the first survey of the city’s historical and architectural resources was completed and updated in 2004. The 1982 inventory and report recommended the creation of the Neenah Landmarks Commission. Its creation in 1986 by Ordinance
#741 granted certain powers and duties to the commission in order to preserve Neenah’s historical sites. To date, the West Wisconsin Avenue Historic District and 26 individual properties have been designated “City of Neenah landmarks.”
For more information about the Neenah Landmarks Commission, please contact Carol Kasimor, City of Neenah Department of Community Development, at ckasimor@ci.neenah.wi.us.
