Property Record
1 S PARKER DR
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Gazette Printing Company |
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| Other Name: | |
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| Reference Number: | 80699 |
| Location (Address): | 1 S PARKER DR |
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| County: | Rock |
| City: | Janesville |
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| Year Built: | 1968 |
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| Additions: | 1988 |
| Survey Date: | 19882020 |
| Historic Use: | large office building |
| Architectural Style: | Contemporary |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Waterman, Fuge, and Krauss |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. 2020: The Gazette Printing Company is a three-story Contemporary office building and newspaper production plant. Architecture firm Waterman, Fuge, and Krauss of Fort Atkinson designed the building and general contractor T.S. Willis of Janesville completed construction in 1968. It is clad in cream brick with light and dark gray granite facing along the first story, in vertical bands surrounding the fixed windows, and along the flat roofline. The front (west) facade features a grand tripartite main entrance with bronze-cased double doors, transom, and large fixed sidelights; these are separated by granite pillars and a large flat-roof granite awning. A two-story concrete and sand bas relief sculpture by artist Constantino Nivola features 33 vignette scenes representing communication through history and dominates the central upper portion of the front facade. Stretching west of the main entrance at the southeast corner of E. Milwaukee Street and S. Parker Drive is a large landscaped plaza with original circular and semicircular brick planters, walkways, stairs, and a retaining wall. The plaza also features semicircular wooden benches, a flagpole, and Contemporary-style lighting fixtures that are original to the building. The Janesville Gazette, which had occupied eight previous locations in Janesville, was founded in 1845 by Levi Alden and is the oldest continuously operating independent newspaper in Wisconsin; it has been referred to as “Janesville’s oldest institution.” The 1968 office building and production plant was designed to double available space for the newspaper and accommodate the newest production equipment of the era. An “offset” printing press with high-quality image capabilities installed in the building was the first such press used by a major daily newspaper in the state. The WCLO and WCLO-FM radio stations, which occupied the top floor of the Gazette Printing Company building, also expanded production in the new space; similar to the Janesville Gazette, WCLO was a longstanding local institution, having been established in 1930. |
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| Bibliographic References: | “Janesville Gazette Mural Sculpture.” Janesville: Wisconsin’s Great Outside, 2020. https://www.janesvillecvb.com/things_to_do/details/4720/225439/Janesville_Gazette_Mural_Sculpture. “New Gazette Building Work Starts Tomorrow.” Janesville Daily Gazette, October 19, 1966. “WCLO Begins Broadcasting from New Studios Sept. 30.” Janesville Daily Gazette, September 10, 1968. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |