Wisconsin Historical Society
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Before the building housing Vintage Spirits & Grill became a campus mainstay, it was a filling station.
An effort to keep Vintage Spirits & Grill on University Avenue from being demolished and replaced with a 12-story, 33-apartment boutique student housing tower could hinge on arguments over the building’s historical significance. The city’s Plan Commission will consider both the demolition proposal and plans for the new tower as part of the same March 11 public hearing.
The Plan Commission reviews demolitions in part to “ensure the preservation of historic buildings,” and city staff did recommend a finding of historic value for the Vintage building last July, noting the building was a “mostly intact rare example of an early filling station and Spanish Revival construction in Madison.”
Bob Klebba, a member of the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation’s advocacy committee, says his group took a look at the project but won’t take action on it. He says the Vintage building’s roof is unique and emblematic of the 1920s, when it was first constructed, and that there are connections to the area’s historic car culture, but those have mostly been covered.
More than 5,000 people, however, have signed on to a Change.org petition to “Save Vintage Spirits & Grill” from redevelopment, citing the building’s historical significance as the number one reason for opposing demolition.
Klebba notes the number of young people advocating for the building’s historical significance. “This Vintage thing is unique because the interest in preservation of a building is from a demographic usually in support of tearing things down.”
Ald. Juliana Barrett, who represents the area, is not optimistic that preservation proponents will prevail.
“We should do everything we can to keep the Vintage, but I feel my hands are tied,” she says. “At this point I do think the arguments against redevelopment are quite tough.”
