TWO MORE HISTORIC NEILLSVILLE PROPERTIES RECOGNIZED
Friday, November 26th, 2010 -- 12:24 PM
Two more Neillsville properties have been placed on the State Register of Historic Places and are headed toward the National Register, bringing the area?s total to 27.Pat Lacey worked with the owners of the [url=http://neillsville-wi.com/historic-tour/WorldsFairWisconsinPavilion.html]1964-1965 Wisconsin World?s Fair Pavilion[/url] and the [url=http://neillsville-wi.com/historic-tour/CCSnitemanHouse.html]C.C. Sniteman House[/url].
Most people know the Pavilion as the big, yellow, tee pee-like structure that sits on USH 10, across from the Fairgrounds. The Sniteman House is the brown Prairie Style home across the street from the Public Library. It was constructed between 1915 and 1917.
After doing a lot of investigation and filling out a lot of paperwork, Lacey successfully presented the two properties last Friday in Madison. They?re now on the State Register and will probably be on the National Register in the next 12 to 18 months.
The Pavilion is a wonderful representation of Mid-Century Modernism and was constructed during a period when the country was captivated with space travel.
"Through the folded-plate roof and canopy and the pylons that jut out to the side, it has a feeling of weightlessness and almost a feeling that it's in motion," Lacey explains.
The Sniteman House also captures the essence of the early 1900?s and the Frank Lloyd Wright-led Prairie Style movement.
"It's kind of the bridge between the Victorian-era and the modern movement," she notes. "They were designing structures that were representative of the prairie horizon. They used a lot of rock and brick. Very organic."
The designations will benefit the property owners with tax credits for certain improvements, but also protects the facades of the buildings from major alteration.
It?s fairly unprecedented for a community our size to have so many historically significant buildings. "That's what makes Neillsville extremely unique: we have representative architecture from the 1880s up until, at least, the 1970s. It's quite a unique setting," Lacey notes.
"It can indeed be a destination."
Lacey believes there are at least a half-dozen or so more buildings that are very deserving of the designation.
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