Failing City Hall Facade Will Cost At Least $1.6 Million To Repair

Milwaukee City Hall. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

The city has found a contractor to stabilize the again-failing facade at Milwaukee City Hall.

Urban Milwaukee reported in October that pieces of the terra cotta facade were breaking off, less than 15 years after they were replaced as part of a $76 million project.

The city, said a Department of Public Works (DPW) spokesperson in October, was pursuing “accountability.” But as Urban Milwaukee reported, a 2014 settlement could very well bar the city from recouping any of the costs.

And now, the public has an indication of what the starting point for those costs is.

A newly filed building permit indicates a $1.62 million “temporary facade stabilization” effort, primarily netting, will be installed by Wiss, Jannet, Elstner Associates, Inc. (WJE) and general contractor Mark 1 Masonry, both of Illinois.

“There is some flaking of the fabrication and as our first and main responsibility is safety, the netting is being put up as a precaution to hold the flaking pieces of the terra cotta in place and prevent any from falling to the sidewalk or street surrounding City Hall,” said a DPW spokesperson Friday. “The work should begin in April and conclude in October.”

More substantial repairs will need to be undertaken in the future.

First built in 1895, City Hall was restored in 2008 and thousands of terra cotta pieces that adorn the building were replaced. Then, a piece came crashing down in 2011, prompting a lawsuit and approximately 3,000 recently installed pieces to be replaced again.

In 2014, city officials unanimously approved a settlement where contractor JP Cullen paid the city $7.95 million. But a clause was included in the agreement indemnifying the defendants from future claims. “In consideration of the total payment amount… the Plaintiff does hereby release and forever discharge the ‘Released Parties’ from any and all liability, actions, causes of action, claims and demands known or unknown, upon or by reason of any damage, loss or injury, including, but not limited to, damages, loss or injury which have been or which hereafter may be sustained by the Plaintiff as a result of the alleged occurrence described in the Litigation.” A subsequent clause says the payment explicitly covers “all known or unknown damages, but also is received for future damages.”

WJE previously inspected the building in 2017, resulting in Cullen replacing 34 units in 2018 before a warranty period expired.

The 2014 settlement was the second with Cullen and a team of subcontractors and supplies. In 2013, the city approved a settlement where Cullen would replace the failing terra cotta for $6.7 million, less than the city’s initial estimate of $14.6 million. Cullen’s 2014 payment covered the cost of the repair and replacement work plus damages for other costs incurred.

Additional defendants released in the two settlements include terra cotta manufacturer Gladding McBean, subcontractor Eugene Matthews, Inc., construction oversight firm Bloom Companies, structural engineering firm Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. and architect of record Engberg Anderson Architects.

The 2023 request for proposals included images of spalling, where terra cotta breaks off in fragments, at places high up in the 354-foot-tall building. But looking out lower windows from inside the public building also revealed spalling in select areas and accumulation of broken masonry in a window well. Spalling is often triggered by freeze-thaw cycles where water penetrates a piece of masonry and expands and contracts.

The Flemish Renaissance-style building. 200 E. Wells St., is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Designed by Henry C. Koch, the building was once the world’s tallest inhabitatable building and long a symbol of the city.

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