Old West Bend City Hall

In 1893, a group of angry citizens worried about the integrity of West Bend City records pressured the mayor and common council to act. Two lots were purchased on the northwest corner of 6th Avenue and Hickory Street for $600. It took six more years, before on August 14, 1899 a petition with 101 signatures was presented at a common council meeting requesting a special election to vote on whether or not to erect a city hall.

On November 13, 1899 Alderman Meyer’s ordinance authorizing the city to issue a bond and enter into a contract for construction of a City Hall for $10,000 was adopted. Milwaukee architects, Van Ryn & De Gelleke, designed the building and construction was done by Weddig & Herdt of West Bend for $10,420. The cornerstone was finally laid on Thursday, June 21, 1900 at 5PM.

The new building housed the city offices, public library, police and fire departments and various meeting rooms. There was space for storage in the basement, room for fire apparatus, several horse stalls, a tramp room, and a tower to dry fire hoses.

The first meeting was held in March, 1901.

On January 5,1904 a fire started in the basement. The library began filling with smoke around 4PM alerting those inside. The fire was quickly extinguished by the fire department with minimal loss.

In the mid-1960’s, the police and fire departments moved to new facilities and the Old City Hall underwent a major remodel and renovation at a cost of $70,000. The renovations consisted of sandblasting the exterior, new lighting, lowering the ceilings, and adding air conditioning. 

In the early 1980s the city began to outgrow the space and in 1992, the city moved to its current location. The Old City Hall was sold to a subsidiary of West Bend Mutual, the Casper Murphy Agency, for $210,000 with the restrictions that the building maintained its exterior architecture, lighting, and bell. In August of 1998, the bell tower was reconstructed.  In July 2008, the building was purchased by the current occupant, Time Investments.

Rathbun Associates. Final Report: Intensive Architectural/Historical Survey, West Bend, WI. West Bend, WI:1988.

Western Historical Company. The History of Washington and Ozaukee County. Chicago, IL. Western Historical Company, 1881.

Leadership West Bend Class of 2018. Historic Downtown West Bend Walking Tour. West Bend, Wisconsin. 2018.