Now...The Truth
I have been a citizen of Brookfield for 24 years and a member of the Brookfield Common Council for eight years, including two years as president. Many blogs in the past have contained false and distorting info about public affairs. I will provide truthful information and maintain an influence on city policy.
SAVE OUR HERITAGE
Some months ago, the Common Council directed that a study proceed to recommend the Dept. of Community Development study a historic preservation policy that is long overdue. Such an ordinance should have been enacted years ago. Now the council is faced with making a hasty decision on a historic Storage Village building with no city policy to eprobablly nforce that decision. Twenty-plus years ago it was a fabulously successful destination for bus tours and visitors from all over the midwest because of its unique shops and restaurants. Developer 4S deserves a big thank you for offering to help preserve the farm house.
Because we have no historic preservation ordinance, the city has allowed any number of historic or unique buildings to be destroyed. About the only sites left with any historic value are several very old cemeteries only because you can't arbitrarily bulldoze a cemetary. Several years ago when I was on the Common Council, the City pleaded poverty when some concerned citizens asked for help to maintain the old cemetaries. The maintenance was ultimately taken over by concerned citizens who have since done a wonderful job of maintenance. In my memory, the city has lost two significant structures. First was the red brick school house that stood where US Bank now stands on the corner of Bluemound and Cahoun. This building was typical of grade school buildings that sprang up statewide in the early twentieth century. At the end, it housed a number of boutique shops. And my favorite, Chris Elliot's silver sided diner further west on Bluemound. Someone who appreciates history rescued it and it has a new life, somewhere in Iowa, I believe. During its last few years, you had to step around the many buckets used to catch the leaks in the roof.
