Waukesha's historic Moor Mud Baths resort will be demolished by the end of the year under a new settlement

Jim Riccioli, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·4 min read
The historic Moor Mud Baths building, one of the few remaining elements from Waukesha's springs era, sits vacant in 2021. Both the city of Waukesha and the county have signed an agreement that will allow the 1911 resort facility to be demolished.
The historic Moor Mud Baths building, one of the few remaining elements from Waukesha's springs era, sits vacant in 2021. Both the city of Waukesha and the county have signed an agreement that will allow the 1911 resort facility to be demolished.

WAUKESHA - The city's last intact Springs Era resort hotel will share the fate of other tourist-oriented sites from Waukesha's early history.

Waukesha County's acceptance of a lawsuit settlement with the city of Waukesha means that the Moor Mud Baths/Grandview Health Resort property at 500 Riverview Drive, on the county's central government campus, will be demolished by the end of the year.

The settlement ends a two-decade battle to preserve the site by the city's Landmarks Commission and the nonprofit Waukesha Preservation Alliance.

The 20-3 vote Tuesday, Sept. 27 by the Waukesha County Board followed a similar 8-6 vote by the Waukesha Common Council on Aug. 16, finalizing the agreement.

Here's what the agreement entails

Under that agreement, the county promised to commemorate the former resort with markers at the site, a historic display inside the county's Health and Human Services building, and a special website. The county will continue to keep the adjoining Moor Downs golf course open for 10 years and preserve both the spring house and clubhouse on the grounds.

Essentially, aldermen agreed to withdraw the council's previous ruling in 2020 that upheld the Waukesha Landmark Commission's 2019 decision, which had prevented the county from demolishing the Moor Mud Baths building on the county's campus under an exception in the city's landmarks ordinance.

Like the city's discussions in July and August, much of the debate focused on the settlement occurred in closed session, with a final decision announced afterward in open session. As such, most of the back-and-forth discussion about the settlement is unknown.

However, certain details have emerged from sources outside city government.

The Waukesha Preservation Alliance, in a posting on its Facebook page following the county vote, noted that the original draft of the settlement did not include the springhouse near the former mud baths hotel building.

Waukesha Preservation Alliance President Mary Emery, who has led the fight to preserve the historic resort building for years, expressed sadness in the fate of the mud baths building.

"This is a sad day for Waukesha," she said after the city's vote in August.

The Moor Mud Baths Resort, as shown in this 1950s photo, was once a popular attraction during Waukesha's early days as a resort town. The facility opened in 1911 and closed in 1961.
The Moor Mud Baths Resort, as shown in this 1950s photo, was once a popular attraction during Waukesha's early days as a resort town. The facility opened in 1911 and closed in 1961.

The building is the last remaining resort of Waukesha's Springs Era

The history of the hotel resort has been well documented. It operated during the later years of the Springs Era, a time when people from all over come to Waukesha primarily for the perceived health benefits of its groundwater.

In the early 1970s, the county, whose growing government campus lay adjacent to the old hotel and golf course, acquired the property, eventually repurposing it to house its Health and Human Services Department.

In 2013, after the county moved the department into a new facility, the former resort property became obsolete, at least from the county's perspective. That led to plans to demolish the building, which county officials maintained had fallen into disrepair and was no longer internally significant, from a history perspective.

However, such plans were thwarted by the city of Waukesha, whose landmarks panel had earlier placed a historical designation on the site intended to preserve it. That, in turn, led to legal and political tussles between the city and county.

In October 2019, the Waukesha Landmarks Commission, which in 2016 refused to remove the historic designation, nixed the necessary "certificate of appropriateness" that would have allowed the structure's demolition by the county.

Ultimately, after the city turned down an appeal by the county to grant an exception allowing the historical landmark to be demolished, the matter went before the courts. Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Lloyd Carter ruled in the city's favor, saying the city acted in accordance with its ordinances and procedures in conducting the appeal.

Demolition will happen in December 2022

All that remains now is the demolition, albeit eight years later than initially planned by the county.

County officials confirmed money had previously been set aside for the work, allowing the demolition process to proceed.

"We will not know the final cost of the demolition project, which is scheduled to take place in December, until the final bids on the demolition work have been reviewed and accepted," Kristin Bendlin, special programs coordinator and an interim informational source for the county executive's office, said Friday.

Contact Jim Riccioli at (262) 446-6635 or james.riccioli@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @jariccioli.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Waukesha County OK plans to demolish historic, disputed Moor Mud Baths