The Port Washington city yard on Moore Road is open for residents to drop off yard waste.

    The yard is open from 3 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.

    Grass, garden waste and other materials should never be raked into the street or curb. Those are among the materials that will be accepted at the yard.

    Leaves may be raked into the gutter, but only in the fall.

Historical Society will display items that reflect city’s proud heritage during unveiling of center Saturday

    The Port Washington Historical Society has pulled out some quintessential items from the city’s past to exhibit when it opens the doors of its research center to the public Saturday, April 27.

    Four exhibits — on Smith Bros., Paramount Records, the Port Washington City Band and the Wisconsin Chair Co. — will be featured at the open house, which will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

    Among the items on display will be uniforms, sheet music and instruments from the City Band; chairs, a tabletop mirror and footstool made by the Chair Co.; floor and tabletop record players and records from Paramount Records and signs, a fish box, net and models of the fishing tugs once operated by Smith Bros.

    “It’s so nice to be able to have those out where people can see them,” Society President Jackie Oleson said, noting that in the organization’s previous homes, there wasn’t room to display artifacts.

    The grand opening marks a new chapter for the Society.

    It was just a year ago that the research center was a dream for the Society. It had made an offer to purchase the building last January, but the group didn’t close on the purchase until August.

    It took about two months to complete demolition work in the structure, and since then members and contractors have worked steadily to renovate the building at 205 N. Franklin St.

    “It’s basically a new building inside,” Oleson said, noting it has a new roof and mechanical systems, as  well as woodwork and cabinetry.

    The tin ceiling and original floors, however, have been refurbished and gleam.

    In January, the Society moved its records and artifacts into the center and began organizing things.

     “It’s been a crazy year, but we are finally settled in,” Oleson said. “We want to share our new digs so people get a chance to see what we have here and to appreciate an 1852 building that’s gotten new life.”

    The open house is one of the few chances people will have to see the entire building, she added, noting the second floor will generally be off limits to the public.

    The second floor holds a board room and archival area, where work will be done to catalog the Society’s collections and preserve items.

    One major project for the Society will be cataloging the extensive Paul Wiening collection of photographs and slides, Oleson said.

    The first floor of the building has exhibit space near the street, with a research area toward the middle. A raised area in the back holds offices.

    The society’s exhibits will likely change twice a year, Oleson said, although there will be one permanent exhibit. A corner of the first floor is dedicated to Barnum Blake and his family.

    Blake, who was a mover and shaker in the city, constructed the building that houses the research center — it’s one of two remaining buildings he constructed, Oleson said.

    The exhibit includes some Victorian furnishings, restored oil paintings of Blake and his daughter Louisa Blake Bostwick and a framed Civil War photo of Blake’s son Edward.

    Although the Society has completed much of its work on the building, some renovations to the exterior are still planned. These renovations — moving the door to the center of the front and adding a transom window above it, framing the windows in wood, raising the canopy, refurbishing the awning and adding a sign — were approved by the city’s Plan Commission last week.

    The Society hopes to raise $50,000 for this work, Oleson said, adding members would like to complete this project by the end of the year.

    The research center is one of two buildings the group is renovating in downtown. The other, the historic Businessman’s Club at 118 N. Franklin St., will be converted into a museum.

    That work probably won’t be done until 2014, Oleson said.

    “That building has its own historic features we want to preserve and respect and work with,” she said. “It’s a building with a lot of potential.”

    Oleson said the Society hopes its work will inspire other property owners to not only consider restoring their buildings to their historic roots but to also look at new uses for them.

    “Really, when you get down to it, this was taking an old building and finding another use for it,” she said. “We hope this will encourage others to take a look at their buildings, too.

    “We’ve got so many buildings in downtown that date back to the 1800s. But unless you look at the top of some of them, you wouldn’t know that.”

    The grand opening is the first formal event at the research center, but it’s certainly not the only time the building will be open.

    The center will be open from 1 to 4 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays, and the Society is seeking volunteers to help staff the facility as it looks to add hours on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Image Information: PREPARING FOR an open house at their new Research Center on Friday, (from left) Port Washington Historical Society President Jackie Oleson and members Pat Moren, Geri Zehren and Sarah Smith checked out instruments and other items in an exhibit on the City Band.      Photo by Sam Arendt

    An informational meeting on a study of parking in downtown Port Washington will be held at 8 a.m. Tuesday, April 30.

    The session, which will be hosted by the Port Washington Business Improvement District and Main Street, will be in the lower-level meeting room at the Holiday Inn Harborview.

    The open house is intended to get input on parking needs, issues and ways to improve them from residents, business owners, downtown merchants and employees “and anyone who parks or can’t find parking in Port Washington,” officials said.

    The Boston-based firm Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates will present a summary of its upcoming work on the study and discuss how people can contribute.

    Nelson/Nygaard, which has been commissioned for the work by the BID and Main Street, will work with the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, which is conducting a study for the city, on the project.

    Main Street Executive Director Sara Grover said earlier this month that after the kickoff meeting, Nelson/Nygaard will meet with business and property owners to determine their needs, how they accommodate parking now and to hear of any future plans that might affect downtown parking.

    The firm will also develop a survey to be filled out by downtown customers and visitors when they visit shops, she said. The survey will ask, among other things, whether people are aware of parking options.

    At the same time, SEWRPC will collect parking data, such as traffic flow, and the number of cars in downtown lots on a daily basis. The agency will also look at how existing on and off-street parking is used.

    Nelson/Nygaard will then analyze its data and that collected by SEWRPC and make recommendations to Main Street and the city. SEWRPC will review these and create an implementation plan, Grover said, noting this should be completed by late fall.