Parts of Marquette’s Sensenbrenner Hall may face demo

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Marquette University’s Sensenbrenner Hall used to be crammed with eager law students, hustling up and down the four flights of stairs to attend classes.

But for the past year, the building has sat quiet and mostly empty on the corner of 11th Street and Wisconsin Avenue in Milwaukee.

Now, Marquette is trying to decide what to do with the aging building that housed the university’s law school for 85 years until the new $85 million Eckstein Hall opened last year, offering the law school room to grow in a more modern facility.

University officials have decided, at the very least, the original 1924 portion of Sensenbrenner Hall is worth saving, Marquette architect Tom Ganey said. Up for debate are what updates it will need and whether the building’s two later additions are worth preserving, as well.

“We’re engaging in a long-term plan for that portion of campus and plan to have academic activities on that site,” Ganey said.

The university built an expansion to the law library at Sensenbrenner Hall in 1967-68 and additional library space and a fourth-floor atrium facing 11th Street were added in the early 1980s. Those were the last significant updates to the building, Ganey said.

The additions are in sharp architectural contrast to the original building, built for $200,000 and designed by Alexander Eschweiler, who designed several buildings on the Marquette campus.

Ganey said the two additions could be demolished without damaging the original building, but stressed that no decisions had been made whether to take down any part of the old law school.

Marquette Law professor Gordon Hylton said he wanted the entire structure would remain.

“I personally hope that the building is preserved, intact, two additions and all,” he said. “Though I am aware that there are those in high places who want to tear down the two additions and reconstruct Sensenbrenner Hall according to the original plans.”

Law School Dean Joseph Kearney said he favored restoration of the building to its “original grandeur” but acknowledged that law school administrators wouldn’t have a say in the fate of the property.

“There’s no question that the original building will remain part of the university,” Kearney said. “Where the questions come in is with the other parts that are connected.”

No matter what portions of the building remain, the university likely will need to invest in updates to heating, electrical and plumbing infrastructure at the property, portions of which are 30 to 40 years old, Ganey said.

Costs have yet to be discussed, he said, and the scope of any remodeling or renovations will have to fit into the university’s budget plan.

“It will have to align with the funding available,” he said.

Ganey said he expected university leadership would develop a long-term plan for Sensenbrenner Hall during the coming academic year.

For now, the building is being used as a temporary storage facility for furniture and other materials normally housed in neighboring Johnston Hall while that building undergoes update work.

“During the renovations (at Johnston), we need a staging area,” Ganey said. “But the original (Sensenbrenner Hall) structure is a jewel and we will do everything we can to make it better for long-term use.”