Milwaukee City Hall

Project History

The Milwaukee City Hall was built in 1897. Architect Henry Koch designed the building in a noted Renaissance style, and in 2005 it was named a National Historic Landmark. The building had endured decades of harsh Midwest weather and had become unsafe and ready for a major repair job. Starting in 2006, contractor J.P. Cullen & Sons began restoration.
The work area was first completely netted for protection while 400,000 square feet of weakened terra cotta and sandstone were repaired and replaced. In addition, a specially formulated mortar, Matrix, was used to help preserve 13,000 pieces of terra cotta as well as installation of new terra cotta sculptures that were re-created to imitate originals that had been missing.