Milwaukee's Historic Preservation Committee voted 4-1 to grant permanent historic designation to the Marcus Center, a victory for preservationists looking to protect a sunken chestnut grove designed by architect Dan Kiley. Representatives of the Marcus Center had argued against the designation.
While most of the discussion that preceded the vote at this afternoon's public hearing was calm, things took a heated turn when Alt. Robert Bauman, vice chair of the Historic Preservation Committee, accused two advocates for the disabled of weaponizing accessibility.
During public comments, a deaf man relayed a story about a disabled colleague visiting the Marcus Center who felt humiliated by her difficulty navigating the building. He said that he feared granting the building historic status would make it more difficult for the Marcus Center to make upgrades and accommodations that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
He was immediately followed by the mother of a son in a wheelchair, who shared an emotional account of her son feeling excluded on a visit to the Marcus Center where he was unable to access the grove. “The grove is not accessible to children in wheelchairs,” she said. “It should be for everybody. It should be accessible.
“Wheelchairs can easily tip because of the gravel there,” she continued. “The trees are a hindrance. We have to decide if we want to go ahead and keep the status quo as it is, because we envision being France”—an apparent reference to comments supporters of the grove had made compared the architectural attraction to those in Europe—“or if we want to look at all the citizens of Milwaukee and say everyone is worthwhile and should be able to enjoy this facility.”
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But Bauman took issue with those speakers' comments. He said the conversation up until them had been civil, “but then we had to weaponize accessibility, and I'm offended by that.”
Bauman said he was offended by the suggestion that historic designation precluded accessibility. "That's a false argument,” he said. “We take these things very seriously.”
He also dismissed the speaker's concerns about the gravel, which a previous speaker from the youth group TRUE Skool had also raised as a concern, citing it as a hazard for children playing in the grove. “Because there's gravel near these trees, somehow that makes the entire project non-eligible for designation?” Bauman said. “I find that an absurdity.”
The Marcus Center is expected to appeal the building's historic designation to the Common Council. During Monday's meeting, the organization's President and CEO Paul Mathews asked the city to “give us the benefit of the doubt” over its plans, and argued that the grove's sunken design is fundamentally demeaning to people with mobility concerns.
