Property Record
3815 N TEUTONIA AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Long Island Homes Office Building |
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| Other Name: | WNOV |
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| Reference Number: | 233515 |
| Location (Address): | 3815 N TEUTONIA AVE |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Milwaukee |
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| Year Built: | 1953 |
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| Additions: | 1959 |
| Survey Date: | 2016 |
| Historic Use: | small office building |
| Architectural Style: | Contemporary |
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| Wall Material: | Stone Veneer |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | 2017- "Constructed of concrete block this two-story commercial building is faced with a stone veneer. A vertical element runs up the front of the building and breaks through the flat roofline, atop which are the radio call letters WNOV. Although the flat first-floor overhang is missing above the first-floor entrance and large, plate-glass window, it remains above the window to the north. Two large plate-glass windows punctuate the second floor. This building was originally built in 1953 by the Island Construction Company as a one-story structure that served as the office and salesroom for Long Island Homes. One year later, a one-story concrete block addition was built and, in 1959, the building was expanded to two stories when, presumably, the stone veneer was added to the front. The architect cited for the alterations was Don Gutzmann, while the building was owned and occupied by Heitzer & Drobac. Very shortly thereafter (by 1961), the building served as the offices of the AIW-AFL-CIO. In 1978, the structure was home to the African-American-owned and operated radio station WNOV, which was established in 1968. WNOV was started by its sister station WVON (in Chicago) and was owned by the Courier Communications Corporation, which also produced the Milwaukee Courier, the city’s African-American newspaper. The station offered African-American programming in both music and talk radio and continued doing so until going off the air in 2012. The building currently stands vacant. The “new’ WNOV, which was established in 2013, is located at 2003 W. Capitol Drive." -"N Teutonia Ave: W Groeling Ave to W Capitol Dr", WisDOT#2080-00-02, Prepared by Heritage Research, Inc. (Schnell), (2017). |
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| Bibliographic References: | 2016 survey citations: Original permit for 3815 N. Teutonia Avenue, 9 April 1953 (cited as one story); Permit for alteration, 23 August 1954 (concrete block); Permit for alteration, 2 April 1959 (second-story addition); Signage installation (for AIW Region 9 AFL CIO), 19 January 1961; “The History of Black Radio with Dr. O.C. White and Jim Frazier, WAWA 1590 Milwaukee,” Audio recorded on 10 February 1987, Available online at https://airchexx.com/2016/12/17/the-history-of-black-radio-wokj-am-stereo-1550-february-10-1987/, Accessed April 2017; Sylvia Bell White and Jody LePage, Sister: An African-American Life in Search of Justice (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2013), page 144. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |