September 23, 2008
RESTORING YOUR WHITEFISH BAY HOME

Among the principal reasons people are attracted to the Village Whitefish Bay are the many fine homes located throughout the Village.  WFB residents maintain their homes well, on almost every block of the Village a home renovation project of some sort is underway. And many residents are seeking to restore original design features that may have been obliterated by non-sensitive modifications in the past.

The Whitefish Bay Library has recently added two books to its collection to aid residents in the sensitive renovation of their homes:

These books were published by the Milwaukee Department of City Development. Since many of the houses within the Village are similar in design and construction to houses within the City of Milwaukee, these guides are helpful resources to anyone interested in renovating their house in a way that will be sensitive to its historic design.

Both books contain excellent illustrations, suggestions and examples to aid homeowners in maintaining and restoring their houses.

The “Good as New” book has a large section devoted to describing the various architectural styles commonly used throughout the City, including significant illustrations of Italianate, Victorian Gothic, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, American Foursquare, Arts and Crafts and Craftsman, Prairie, Dutch Colonial, Georgian Revival, Tudor Revival, Mediterranean Revival, Milwaukee Duplexes and Polish Flats.

There is also a companion book available in this series entitled, "Good for Business: A Guide to Rehabilitating the Exteriors of Older Commercial Buildings."  These three books are available for loan to anyone with a library card.

August 21, 2008
BIG BAY PARK AND THE WPA

I just obtained a book entitled, “Milwaukee County Parks” – part of the Images of America series*. It includes a lot of interesting pictures of the development of the Milwaukee County Park System. One particular photograph caught my eye, a picture of the stairs at Big Bay Park in Whitefish Bay:

The caption states that the stairs were constructed in 1940 using WPA labor. The Works Projects Administration (WPA) was established by Franklin Roosevelt in 1935 as part of his ‘New Deal’ efforts.

I’m sure that most of us that live in Whitefish Bay are familiar with these stairs – however it has been a long time since it has looked anything like the above image. The comparable view today looks like the following:

It’s still a nice way to walk down the bluff, when the mosquitoes aren’t in season. But it’s disappointing that the walk hasn’t been more carefully maintained over the years.

The walk contains some interesting views, although the area could be improved by some prudent pruning of the foliage.

There is a natural flow of water through the area, which transverses a small ravine. Interestingly enough, when the retaining wall area at the base of the bluff was rebuilt a few years ago, no apparent provision was made to deal with the stream. As a result, the water flows over the walk way, creating a muddy mess.