| Additional Information: | Employers Mutual Liability Company which was founded in Wausau on September 1, 1911 built this office building in 1940-1941. In 1967 the insurance company sold it to the city of Wausau for use as City Hall.
2018 survey report write-up: Executed in the Art Deco style, this three-story, L-shaped building is faced with Bedford limestone and topped with a flat roof. The primary entrance elevation faces Grant Street (north) and is fronted by a series of staircases, as well as ramping for handicapped access. The symmetrical façade is delineated into thirteen bays by the use of fourteen pilasters with vertically incised lines. Each bay division contains a pair of metal-framed window openings along each level. The central three bays identify the entrance and include decorative metal grillwork. The cornice level of the building features a variety of state seals carved in stone, along with chevron patterns. The remaining elevations largely repeat the design of the north entrance elevation; however, directly opposite the entrance is a large window with additional metal grillwork that looks out over the fountain that was added to the rear of the city block in 1971 (AHI#236559).
Like its neighbor across the street (First Presbyterian Church), this building--which was completed in 1941 as the headquarters for the Employers Mutual Liability Insurance Company-- was designed by Childs & Smith. The insurance firm was established on 1 September 1911 by a group of Wausau-area employers of labor in order to aid in carrying out the Workman’s Compensation Law that went into effect in Wisconsin on that same date (Of note, Wisconsin was the first state in the United States to pass such a law; the law was, however, voluntary for its first two years). The first policy was issued that same day, to the Wausau Sulphate Fibre Company. Members of that initial group that formed Employers Mutual included such names as Walter Alexander, Cyrus Yawkey, G.D. Jones and Neal Brown. Within one month of its incorporation, Hans J. Hagge joined the company as its assistant secretary and, in 1930, he was elected president. The company’s offices occupied a number of buildings prior to the construction of the subject building and, as of 1940, the firm was spread out in six different locations. In order to consolidate all operations under one roof, this building was completed in 1941, under Hagge’s supervision. Notably, the building was designed to accommodate additions if additional space was required in the future. In 1971, a fountain on the south side of the building (in City Hall Park) was constructed in memory of Hagge, who died in 1959. The firm remained in the subject building until 1967, when they moved to their significantly larger headquarters complex at 2200 Westwood Drive (discussed elsewhere in this Recommendations Chapter). Since 1967, the Grant Street building has served as Wausau’s City Hall. |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. Win Freund, "Memories Stirred as Old City Hall is Demolished," Wausau Daily Record Herald, March 21, 1968, p.3.
Citations for 2018 survey report information below: “Wausau Insurance Corporations Gain National Prestige,” Wausau Daily Record-Herald, 2 September 1930, 2/1-2; “Business Increases in Mid-West Noted by Wausau Company,” Wausau Daily Record-Herald, 1 September 1933, 1/5; “Employers Mutuals to Erect $400,000 Building to House Fast Expanding Home Office,” Wausau Daily Record-Herald, 9 July 1940, 1/5-8, includes rendering of building; Malaguti and Norton, “Final Report: Intensive Historic Survey,” 105-106.
City in the Pinery, A Guide to Wausau's Architecture, The City of Wausau, 1984. |
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