An entrance into a Rhinelander residential area with an historic background is getting a facelift thanks to the donation from a Rhinelander benefactor.
Two stone pillars at the intersection of Highview Parkway and Pelican Street in Rhinelander are being updated after falling into disrepair. Mayor Dick Johns said the city was approached by a resident who wanted to know if something could be done to fix the entrance. While the concensus was the crumbling stone needed work, Johns said they didn't have any extra money. That was solved...
"....I talked with Jim Miazga and he said he would donate to repair those pillars. I think it's a very nice gesture on his part..."
Architect Laurie Goscha is on the city's Historic Preservation Commission. She says the pillars are eligible to be part of the National Register of Historic Places...
"...they were built in 1917 and were intended to be the gateway into what was proposed as the Highland View subdivision. This was a subdivision envisioned by a pair of Chicagoans, William Netting and Anna Gaylor...."
Goscha says they wanted to build bungalows in the new subdivision. Goscha says the pillars have a unique historical style...
"....so the pillars were erected as sort of a gateway to start that subdivision and they are in what is considered a Craftsman style. Typically with the emphasis on handcraft or manmade objects as opposed to machine kind of products..."
The pillars also have lighting in them that will be repaired. We'll have more with Laurie Goscha on the pillars Thursday morning(8/1) at 7:30 a.m.
