Buyer Revealed For Potentially Historic Church

Second German Methodist Episcopal Church, 140 W. Garfield Ave. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

The future of a 138-year-old church isn’t any clearer, but a public hearing has revealed who is involved.

A surprise demolition permit request in late October spurred a historic designation nomination for the Second German Methodist Episcopal Church at 124-128 W. Garfield Ave. from the Historic Brewers Hill Neighborhood Association.

“I’m not tearing down a church,” said property owner and developer Ryan Pattee as soon as Urban Milwaukee reached him in November. “That’s not what we do.”

But he did say he was selling two neighboring houses and a vacant lot to a “religious organization.”

That organization came forward during a special Historic Preservation Commission meeting Tuesday to request that any designation be delayed.

“I would ask that the committee pause movement on this until we can do a little more investigation in terms of the potential structural issues,” said Kole Knueppel, executive director of St. Marcus School.

The Lutheran church is located a block east at 2215 N. Palmer St. Its roots are even older than those of the Garfield Street church, and Knueppel, who also lives in the neighborhood, touted the preservation of the church.

But he did not disclose what the organization hopes to do with the property.

The church’s K4-8th grade voucher school operates from three locations: a North Avenue campus co-located with the church, a Center Street campus at 2669 N. Richards St., and the newly renovated Karl J. Schlueter Campus at 3129 N. 1st St. It has an enrollment of more than 1,200 students.

Pattee, who has owned the church since 2023, also asked for a delay.

“All I’m asking for is a pause,” said Pattee. He said he didn’t receive the historic designation study and proposed guidelines until Friday and wanted more time to review them.

He also withdrew the demolition request as soon as he learned it was filed. Pattee, who leads Pattee Group, said it was incorrectly filed by a contractor. “I was absolutely shocked when that came through,” he said.

With no threat of demolition imminent and the building in no danger of collapse, the commission agreed to wait.

“I don’t think that’s an unreasonable request,” said committee chair Ald. Robert Bauman.

The committee delayed any vote on designation until its Jan. 12 meeting.

When it returns for a vote, the historic commission staff is recommending that it be protected.

The church was built in 1887 for the Second German Methodist Episcopal Church, which held services in English and German. After a 1928 merger, it became Epworth Methodist Episcopal Church. “Episcopal” was dropped from the name in 1940 as the neighborhood’s German population declined. The building later housed Omega Baptist Church and youth programs for Northcott Neighborhood House, and most recently was home to New Holy Ghost Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church.

It was designed by architect Herman Schnetzky in a “Germanically influenced Gothic Revival” style, according to a report by senior planner Tim Askin. Its interior was heavily renovated in 1939 by Hugo Haeuser, who designed more than 300 churches.

Askin said the structure is worthy of preservation beyond its architectural merits. The church itself was a neighborhood bellwether during the era of white flight. “They had a unique response to suburbanization by refusing to leave the neighborhood,” he said. The church helped found the Northcott Neighborhood House, which continues to operate in the neighborhood and leads the annual Juneteenth festival.

Pattee said he’s invested in a new roof and boiler. Super Kidz Daycare is the only tenant in the building. The child care provider leases the exposed basement level.

The sanctuary, he said, was heavily gutted already by the time he purchased it. “It’s kind of a shell of what it was when they built it, at this point unfortunately,” he said. Stained glass windows have also been removed.

Local historic designation prohibits exterior modifications to a structure without city approval. Any decision by the Historic Preservation Commission can be appealed to the Common Council.

Who can get a demo permit?

“The process of getting a demo permit should probably be reviewed. It can be done online without the owner signing or anything,” said Pattee.

“So someone could apply to demolish your house?” asked Bauman.

“Yes. It at least happened in this case,” said Pattee.

“We’ll look into that,” said Commissioner Matt Jarosz.

2023 Photos

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