| Additional Information: | 2009: Retains a high level of integrity and features design indicative of 1960s architecture, including a window wall on the facade, concrete detailing and screens, and brick and stone cladding.
2018 survey report write-up: Rising one story and topped with a flat roof, this structure is built of pre-cast concrete slabs and finished with brick and aggregate stone panels. A large expanse of glass along both the east and west elevations of the building, which includes a canopy roof, identifies the original, primary entrances from N. 3rd Street and the parking lot, respectively. Additional, smaller glassed entrances are located along the north and south sides of the structure. Small rectangular window openings are also located along both the south and east near the building’s southeast corner and sconce lighting is located regularly along the building’s exterior. The building’s setback from N. 3rd Street provides for a courtyard-type area with planter boxes.
Completed in 1968, this building was originally the home of the H.C. Prange Co. Department Store. H.C. Prange Co. was established by Henry C. Prange in 1887 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Plans for a Prange’s store in Wausau were announced in 1964. At that time, a conceptual sketch of the building indicated that it would be a multi-story building and include a four-level parking ramp to the west. By the end of April, however, the structure had been redesigned as a flat-roofed, single-story building, with a lower level. Groundbreaking for the 800,000-square-foot, $1,800,000 building was held at the end of April 1968 and its grand opening occurred on November 1st. A parking lot that could accommodate 300 cars was (and still is) located on the west side of the building. In addition to clothing (for men, women and children), the store included departments for housewares, home furnishings and toys. The design of the teen shop was reportedly replicated from a shop seen on Carnaby Street in London. Construction of this building was part of a phased plan, as the store was to be nearly doubled in size and extend west to 1st Street; however, that plan never came to fruition. As of 1968, the Wausau location was the sixth city in which the H.C. Prange Co. had established, with the other five in Sturgeon Bay, Green Bay, Fond du Lac, Appleton and its flagship store in Sheboygan. H.C. Prange remained in the subject building until 1983, when it moved to Wausau Center, the newly constructed indoor mall between Washington and Forest streets.
Following the departure of Prange’s, the building was converted to an office complex, which was to be phase 1 of a greater redevelopment plan between local realtor Jack Williams and Madison developer John Livesey. Phases 2 and 3 included the addition of an 11-story office tower and a 12-story hotel, neither of which came to fruition. Initial tenants in the renovated H.C. Prange building included SNE Corp. and Graebel Van Lines, the latter of which remains in the building today. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Citations for report information below: Win Freund, “Department Store in Wausau,” Wausau Daily Record-Herald, 1 December 1964, 1, sketch and caption; “Ceremonial Spade Starts Work Here on Prange Store,” Wausau Daily Record-Herald, 26 April 1968, 1/1-3 (including photo), 16/4-5; “Outline Plans for H.C. Prange Store,” Wausau Daily Record-Herald, 27 April 1968, 3/4-9, including sketch; “New Prange Store Features Convenient Layout,” Wausau Daily Record-Herald, 2 November 1968, 12-page Advertisement Section, page 1.
Patrick Rice, “$30 Million Plan Unveiled,” Wausau Daily Herald, 18 October 1986, 1/2-5; Tom Berger, “Jack Williams Buys Landmark Building,” Wausau Daily Herald, 21 October 1986, 3/4-5. |
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