Downer Garage – Automobile Garage
Built in 1916, this building functioned as a parking garage until interior remodeling in the late 1990s. Originally built to serve “well-to-do east siders” who owned motor cars, the existence of such a parking garage indicates the connection between Downer and the surrounding affluent residential area. About automobile garages in the 1910s, see also Mulkern's Garage.
What people think of Downer Garage
|
|
Architectural Change – Garage to Retail Shops
Interior
Even after automobiles became sturdier, this building, especially the second and third floors, served as a parking garage until the 1990s. According to Michelle Mooney, the historic condominiums around Downer are not equipped with a parking structure. She therefore assumes that people kept their car in Downer Garage or Mulkern Garage, which still functions as a parking garage. However, Downer Garage no longer works as a garage. As Stacie Williams, the marketing manager at Boswell Books points out, the first floor retail stores now use the second and third floors as their storage space. |
Exterior
The change in the exterior of Downer Garage is minimal. The plaque of a logo consisting of bird wings and a balloon-style tire is the best preserved visual reminder of the automobile row. Typically, early garages were decorated because they served well-to-do clients. In comparison to Mulkern's Garage, fewer changes can be discerned in the Downer Garage. On the first floor, the original storefront windows were replaced by extruded aluminum ones; on the second floor, the plaque “Downer Lakeview Commons” was added; on the third floor, the original cornice was replaced by a black metal equivalent. These alternations were made to make the building more functional for retail shops. |
|
- City of Milwaukee Historic Preservation Commission, "Final Historic Designation Study Report: North Downer Avenue Commercial District" (Milwaukee: Historic Preservation Commission, 2001), 4–5, 7–9.
- Michelle Mooney, interview by Fran Assa, Daniel Cho and Yuko Nakamura, Milwaukee, June 18, 2013.
- Jonathan E. Sager, "The Garage: Its History and Preservation" (M.HP. thesis, University of Georgia, 2002), 7–33.
- Susan Willets, interview by Fran Assa, Daniel Cho and Yuko Nakamura, Milwaukee, June 18, 2013.
- Stacie Williams, interview by Fran Assa and Yuko Nakamura, Milwaukee, June 13, 2013.
More Place-Based Stories
Go back to the map of the places. Or choose one from the list below.
Sendik's | Downer Hardware | Mulkern's Garage | Coffee Trader | Downer Theatre | Popcorn Wagon | St. Mark's