Milwaukee City Hall

City Hall is the scene of the largest [[Socialism|Socialist]] victory ever registered in an American city, when in 1910 [[Emil Seidel]] and a majority Socialist Common Council swept into office. Although the Socialist majority on the Common Council was short-lived, the city was led by Socialist mayors from 1916 to 1960. Mayor [[Daniel Hoan]] (1916-1940) and his successor [[Frank Zeidler]] (1948-1960) did little to advance the cause of Socialism in general, but their tenures in office were marked by an emphasis on provision of services for the working class. City Hall was the marketing symbol of Milwaukee until the completion of the [[Santiago Calatrava|Calatrava]] wing of the [[Milwaukee Art Museum]] in 2001, but the bell tower continues to be used as a municipal icon and in some traffic and parking signs. Formerly the tower had a ''Welcome Milwaukee Visitors'' message on the front three sides; this was one of the iconic images of the opening sequence for locally-set ''[[Laverne and Shirley]]''. From 2006 to 2008, the entire building was renovated, including a complete disassembly and reassembly of the bell tower, by J. P. Cullen & Sons, Inc., a construction manager and general contractor headquartered in [[Janesville, Wisconsin]]. Before the restoration began, the bell was rung rarely because of seismic concerns, and in the last few years an assembly of scaffolds with protective coverings had been in place around the building to protect pedestrians from falling stone and brickwork. City Hall was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1973, and declared a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 2005. {{wide image|Milwaukee 05741u.jpg|600px|Panorama of Milwaukee with City Hall at front center, ca. 1898}} ==External links== {{Commonscat}} *[http://www.city.milwaukee.gov/TheHistoryofMilwauke2833.htm A brief history of City Hall] *[http://www.ci.mil.wi.us/display/router.asp?docid=12618 City Hall Restoration Project] *[http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=322928 Fixing City Hall won't come easy] *[http://www.cr.nps.gov/nhl/designations/samples/wi/Milwaukee%20City%20Hall.pdf National Historic Landmark nomination] (PDF) *[http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=122453 Emporis page] {{s-start}} {{s-ach|rec}} {{succession box | before=[[Illinois State Capitol]] | title=Tallest building in the United States outside of New York City | years=1895—1901
108m | after=[[Philadelphia City Hall]] }} {{succession box | before=Unknown | title=Tallest Building in Wisconsin | years=1895—1973
108m | after=[[U.S. Bank Center (Milwaukee)|U.S. Bank Center]] }} {{succession box | before=[[Chase Tower (Milwaukee)|Chase Tower]] | title=2nd Tallest building in Milwaukee | years=1973—1985
108m | after=[[411 East Wisconsin Center]] }} {{s-end}} {{Milwaukee}} {{coord missing|Ohio}}