A Programmatic Agreement is a document that spells out the terms of a formal, legally binding agreement between the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) and other state and federal agencies. The programmatic agreement establishes a process for consultation, review, and compliance with federal laws, specifically those federal laws concerning historic preservation.
The Programmatic Agreement was approved in 2016.
National Historic Landmarks adjacent to I-94
National Historic Landmarks are nationally significant historic places designated as such by the Secretary of the Interior because they possess exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States. For more information on National Historic Landmarks visit the National Park Service website.
Northwest Branch National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers/Soldiers’ Home National Historic Landmark
The I-94 East-West study area is adjacent to several significant historic buildings and properties. Most notable is the Soldiers’ Home National Historic Landmark. The site’s formal name is the Northwest Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, and it covers most of the Department of Veterans Affairs campus just west of American Family Field, including Wood National Cemetery, which is bisected by I-94.
The National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, as it was originally called, was established by Congress in 1865 as part of a system of National Soldiers’ Homes to provide care for soldiers who had been disabled through loss of limb, wounds, disease, or injury during service. The Milwaukee Soldiers’ Home campus was one of the first three nationally designated campuses. It is the only one of the three original sites with its Soldiers’ Home intact, and it is also the only one with the majority of its surrounding recuperative village remaining.
The Soldiers’ Home National Historic Landmark houses 25 post-Civil War and turn-of-the-20th-century buildings, as well as the oldest portion of Wood National Cemetery. The most historically significant and architecturally dominant building is the Soldiers’ Home (Building 2 or “Old Main”). Designed by Milwaukee architect Edward Townsend Mix, it was a domiciliary with long rooms, common foyers, and sitting rooms. The building was used for veteran housing until the 1970s, but the basic interior design remains as it was in 1869.
Soldiers’ Home Reef National Historic Landmark
The Soldiers’ Home Reef National Historic Landmark is located within the boundaries of the Soldiers’ Home National Historic Landmark. The geological feature was discovered in the 1830s. By the 1860s, it was recognized that the feature was the remains of 400-million-year-old fossil reefs, making them the first ancient reefs discovered in North America and among the first described anywhere in the world. Soldiers’ Home Reef is a steep, rocky hill mostly covered in vegetation.
Places adjacent to I-94 eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is America’s official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation. There are three places adjacent to the I-94 study area that are eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places: Story Hill neighborhood, Calvary Cemetery and Paradise Theater.
The Soldiers’ Home Reef National Historic Landmark is located within the boundaries of the Soldiers’ Home National Historic Landmark. The geological feature was discovered in the 1830s. By the 1860s, it was recognized that the feature was the remains of 400-million-year-old fossil reefs, making them the first ancient reefs discovered in North America and among the first described anywhere in the world. Soldiers’ Home Reef is a steep, rocky hill mostly covered in vegetation.
Calvary Cemetery
Calvary Cemetery was also determined to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The cemetery’s entrance is on Bluemound Road, and its southern boundary is a couple hundred feet north of I-94. Calvary Cemetery is eligible for the National Register because of the architecture of some of its buildings and mausoleums, and several notable Milwaukeeans are buried there, including Solomon Juneau.
Paradise Theater
The Paradise Theater is located on a triangular lot formed by Greenfield and National avenues at the intersection with 62nd Street. Improvements at this intersection will not require any property acquisition. Improvements to Greenfield Avenue may include changes to the signal timing, restriping to create a dedicated left‐turn lane and a combined through and right‐turn lane in each direction, and the elimination of 70 feet of parking on the westbound lane. Improvements to National Avenue may also include signal timing, restriping to create a dedicated right‐turn lane, and the elimination of 100 feet of parking on the southbound lane. These improvements intend to decrease the current backup on the left turn onto 62nd Street.
Laws in place to protect historic buildings and properties
The National Historic Preservation Act requires federal agencies to take into account the effects of their undertakings on historic properties. For the I-94 East-West Corridor Study project, the Federal Highway Administration, in cooperation with WisDOT, is undertaking the reconstruction of I-94 between 16th Street and 70th Street.
The National Historic Preservation Act also guides how the Federal Highway Administration provides opportunities for state and federal agencies, interested parties, and the public to comment on the planned reconstruction of I-94. The following parties are involved in commenting on the project:
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs because it is the owner of the Soldiers’ Home National Historic Landmark and the Soldiers’ Home Reef National Historic Landmark
The National Park Service because it has jurisdiction over National Historic Landmarks
The federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
At the state level, the State Historic Preservation Office, part of the Wisconsin Historical Society
Indian tribes
Several federal agencies
The City of Milwaukee, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Milwaukee Preservation Alliance have asked to be consulting parties
WisDOT and the Federal Highway Administration are also soliciting input from veterans groups
How Will Reconstructing I-94 Affect Historic Buildings and Properties?
No land would be acquired from any of the historic properties along I-94. About 0.20 acre of land would be required from the Soldier’s Home NHL near the Miller Park Way/National Avenue intersection as part of the off interstate improvements. This land is required in order to provide a right-turn lane to the VA Campus from National Avenue. Additionally no graves will be displaced from the Wood National Cemetery, Spring Hill Cemetery, Beth Hamedrosh Hagodel Cemetery or Calvary Cemetery.
Federal Highway Administration and WisDOT in consultation with the Section 106 consulting parties have determined whether the planned I-94 East-West corridor project would have an Adverse Effect on those resources. These determinations are outlined in the Revised Federal Highway Administration Assessment of Adverse Effects for the I-94 East-West Corridor Project memorandum. View addendum adverse effects.
Federal Highway Administration and WisDOT will continue working with the consulting parties to identify appropriate mitigation measures.
Sign Up for Project Updates
This distribution list allows WisDOT to send project information via email to subscribers to help keep customers well informed. Anyone interested in the I-94 East-West Corridor may subscribe to the distribution list via the prompt below.
Thank you for subscribing!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
