Mystery buildings

Imagine an old familiar street in Bay View. Odds are, you’ve traveled this street many times and could even walk the street backwards if you were dared. But every street, no matter how familiar, has that one property that makes you wonder what’s going on in there.

I walked the streets of Bay View to find a few of these mystery buildings and hopefully unravel the story behind them.

Click photos to enlarge.

Shades Drawn at Prime Intersection
2249 S. Howell Ave.
The doors have been locked and the shades drawn for what seems like years at these twin properties where Howell meets KK. These storefronts have actually been vacant for over 20 years. Jon D. Hughett has owned this stretch of property since the early ’80s. Although he’s gotten offers from shops to rent the locations, he said he’s never seen eye to eye with future renters. Currently, Hughett is using the properties for personal storage and a studio for his hobby of metal art. He said he plans to rent out to shops by the end of the year.

Disaster Recovery Business Center
2555 S. Lenox St.
After grabbing a cup of coffee or a Big Mac at the local McDonald’s it’s hard not to notice a windowless, unmarked, red brick building behind the parking lot. A locked keycard-enforced door with a “No Trespassing” sign only increases the intrigue for what lies within the walls. Turns out, this building is actually completely empty. It’s a facility owned by Greendale-based DataShield, Inc. In case of a terrible disaster, this facility can be used by businesses to set up computers and create a temporary headquarters. Let’s hope it stays vacant for a little while longer .

Former Video Production Studio
2901 S. Delaware Ave.
It has the look of a 1950s nuclear fallout shelter, but I assure you this was never the site of a “Duck and Cover” drill. Built in 1982, this building was actually a 135-seat theater that showed classic movies. Unfortunately, it was erected in the year of the VCR, and people simply chose to watch movies at home. It was also the operating center for TAYLOR Studios, Ltd for 15 years. The studio specializes in independent film production and is now in Wauwatosa. Jeff Taylor, owner of the company and building, is currently selling the property. Taylor said the new tenant in the building may be an electrical contracting business.

Community Clubhouse
2504 E. Oklahoma Ave.
If you study geography in Bay View, you know that New York, Delaware, and Oklahoma all meet at the same place. I’m referring to the streets, of course. This unique juncture creates a concrete island on which there is a small, white, triangular building. Owned by Janice M. Doyle, it’s an office used by Bay View property owner Bill Doyle as his “clubhouse.” The building used to be Bud E’s Filling Station, a corner store serving sandwiches, soda, bakery, lottery tickets, candy, and custard. Doyle still has candy for any kids who may drop by.

2893 S. Delaware Ave.
If you’re flying low into Mitchell International Airport and the wind is in the right direction, you’ll know you’re almost to Milwaukee when you see the “Welcome to Cleveland” sign. It’s the infamous sign on the roof of Mark Gubin’s building. (Google map it with the satellite feature, if you don’t believe me.) The sign apparently once caused “outrage and panic,” but the city council never took action to remove it. Gubin’s property once housed the Bay/Lake Theatre, and it’s apparent from the outside. As I photographed the building, three low-flying jets roared by overhead.

Texas Avenue Pumping Station
2900 E. Texas Ave.
Raccoons stirred and chirped in the brush to my right, and I probably swallowed 15 of those little bugs that fly in clouds by the lake as I made my way to the last mystery building on my list.
One of three Milwaukee Water Works pumping stations that drive Lake Michigan water into the municipal water supply, this ominous concrete building is caged off from the South Shore Park bike trail by an ugly, towering fence. The top of the structure, however, forms a grassy overlook at grade with the termini of Texas Avenue and Shore Drive. Put into service in 1962, the machinery within this structure pumps water from an intake 1.25 miles out and 60 feet deep into the municipal water system. According to the 2006 Milwaukee Water Works annual report, the entire system pumped an average of 115 million gallons of water a day. Information specific to Texas Avenue is apparently not made available due to Homeland Security concerns.

Do any of you know of a mysterious building in Bay View that you’ve heard stories about? Are you just plain baffled as to why it was built or what its current use is? Let us know at the Bay View Compass and I’ll make sure I visit it on my next mystery walk.