Milwaukee's long-connection to Cream City Brick, the cream or yellow-colored brick made for decades from local clay high in lime and magnesium, is growing stronger.
Mayor Cavalier Johnson issued a proclamation declaring Friday, September 8, as "Cream City Brick Day" in Milwaukee.
And the Brewhouse Inn & Suites (1215 N. 10th St.), a hotel made of Cream City Brick, is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building is part of the former Pabst Brewing complex just northwest of downtown Milwaukee. A plaque on the outside wall of the hotel was unveiled Friday.
According to the National Park Service website, "the National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the nation's historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America's historic and archeological resources."
Mayor Johnson issued the proclamation during a "Cream City Brick Symposium" held by the Milwaukee Preservation Alliance and AIA Milwaukee. AIA is the American Institute of Architects.
AIA member Stephen Mar-Pohl, president of Insite Consulting Architects of Madison, spoke at the symposium.
During an interview with WUWM, Mar-Pohl said Cream City Brick, "ages very well. Its biggest challenges are dealing with abuse or neglect, more so than anything."
By "neglect," Mar-Pohl says, "Where windows and doors come in contact — those are openings in the wall called fenestrations — those are areas of water intrusion. Those are the big things you need to worry about."
"It's easy to neglect this material," Mar-Pohl adds, "because it holds up so well, and it takes so long for it to fall apart."
By "abuse," Mar-Pohl cites painting of the brick. "It's one of the things we really hate to see. It's so aggressive when it comes to locking down water vapor. This brick is really good at handling water coming into it, and getting rid of it. When you put a paint membrane over the top of it, water gets in and it can't get out," he says.
Still, Mar-Pohl says he's optimistic about the endurance of Cream City Brick in Milwaukee. "Not evenly cautiously. I'm from Madison. But in many ways, I'm a little jealous of my Milwaukee neighbor. Because of the rich history that there is here — in terms of its built environment. But specifically, its built environment using materials dug out of the ground here by people who knew what they were doing," Mar-Pohl said.
Mar-Pohl calls the Mayor's proclamation of Cream City Brick Day, "a big deal."
