Milwaukee Federal Building
Milwaukee, WI

Building's Owner

• United States General Services Administration

In collaboration with

• Quinn Evans Architects

Building description
The Milwaukee Federal Building was designed as the United States Courthouse and Post Office for Milwaukee by Willoughby Edbrooke, who was Supervising Architect for the United States Treasury Department from 1891 to 1892.

The original portion of the building was constructed between 1892 and 1899, with an addition added to the south in the 1930s. The lower portion of the original building is five stories tall, with gabled roofs and dormers and large arched openings at the entrance below the tower.

The granite at the tower and other portions of the building is purportedly from quarries near Mount Waldo in Frankfort County, Maine. These quarries produce a coarse-grained medium gray granite and also furnished stone used in the construction of the main post office in Cleveland, Ohio and the United States Mint in Philadelphia.

Scope of work

• Close visual examination and hammer-sounding of granite masonry at exterior of tower
• Documentation of fault conditions to assist project team with development of repair specifications.

Problems Solved

• As part of the survey, VA technicians removed loose material to temporarily mitigate life safety conditions.
• Completed close-visual examination of building with minimal impact on building occupants and public.