Each year, theNational Trust for Historic Preservation identifies endangered, historic buildings. In 2011, the Trust placed an entire group of buildings in Milwaukee on that list.
Although they remain standing, their future remains uncertain.
The buildings are located in the National Soldiers Home Historic District, which rests on the grounds of the Zablocki VA Medical Center on Milwaukee’s west side.
The fact that the buildings are on VA grounds makes the job of preserving them a little more difficult, which involves the federal government, the National Trust and the Milwaukee Preservation Alliance.
Gary Kunich, a public affairs officer for the VA Medical Center, says the foremost goal of the VA is to provide care to veterans. Preservation of historical buildings will always come second.
"What people have to understand is that every dollar that we put into preservation...is a dollar taken out of repairs in our current facility," he says. "We try to preserve that history while serving out veterans."
Milwaukee Preservation Alliance president Dawn McCarthy says her group's primary goal is "outreach to to let the community know that we have this incredible historic asset and also that...the buildings are endangered by not being put into use."
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It’s the only original Soldier’s Home still standing, but the century-old buildings have been endangered for years, even as they were designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2012.
But this week, the VA held a public hearing at which they announced details of a program that could provide for the restoration of six key buildings in the complex.
The department will offer so-called Enhanced Use Leases to developers who would restore and redevelop the buildings to house homeless or at-risk veterans in the community.
"Being able to bring private money to the table and to keep it focused on the service of veterans is a major step forward," says Genell Scheurell who manages the effort to preserve the Soldiers Home for the National Trust for Historic Preservation and its Chicago field office.
The Soldiers Home was originally created by Congress after the Civil War to help homeless and disabled veterans who could not survive anywhere else. Jim Duff of the Milwaukee County Veterans' Service Office looks forward to the Enhanced Lease process restoring the buildings and putting them back to their intended use.
"We can see the future now, that these buildings are going to be preserved and that they are going to be returned to the service of veterans in our community, so that's a good thing," says Duff.
