Tim Ryan, tryan@shawanoleader.com
The former Lincoln School has made the grade when it comes to history; winning a spot on both the state and national registers of historical places.
The property was entered last month in the National Register of Historic Places by the Secretary of the Interior, and listed in the Wisconsin Register of Historic Places by the State Historic Preservation Office.
Lincoln School joins the Shawano post office and the Shawano Main Street Historic District as nationally recognized historic locations in the city.
City officials were notified about the school’s historic status this week.
“Many area residents attended the school and it holds many memories within its walls,” Shawano Mayor Lorna Marquardt said. “Preserving Shawano’s history is vital.”
Jeanne Cronce, who served as a principal at the school for seven years and a fourth-grade teacher there for 22 years, said she was “super excited” by the historic designation.
“This makes Shawano proud,” she said.
“So many lives have been impacted by what went on in that building,” Cronce said. “We’ve had doctors who came out of that school.”
Commonwealth Development Corporation, of Fond du Lac, plans to renovate the interior of the former school into a 16-unit apartment building and to construct eight cottage units on the north side of the property.
The exterior of Lincoln School will remain the same, and a monument located in front of the school will be retained.
The bronze/stone monument was erected in 1931 in memory of Lorenzo D. Roberts, the first principal of Shawano High School. The monument contains the names of cities, towns and villages in Shawano County.
Some building features that were changed over the years will be restored to their original appearance.
That includes going back to the original style of windows to replicate the same look the exterior had in 1931, Commonwealth Vice President Marissa Downs said.
Other elements that will be restored include the original wood flooring and cabinetry, Downs said.
“It is definitely more costly,” she said, but the historic designation means the development is eligible for historic tax credits that will offset some of the cost of the $4 million project.
The project was also awarded $2.86 million over the next 10 years through a Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority program designed to increase affordable housing statewide.
Downs said Commonwealth will close this month on the purchase of the school from the Shawano School District, after which work can begin.
Commonwealth, which specializes in housing projects, has done similar renovation projects — including an elementary school in Rhinelander now called the Historic West Elementary Apartments and a maternity ward in Milwaukee that was turned into a 51-unit apartment complex.
The company’s offices are located in a renovated church.
The 31,826-square-foot Lincoln School was built in 1924. It was retired after Hillcrest Primary School was completed and students were moved there and to the remodeled Olga Brener Intermediate School.