Oct. , 2026 8:30p
(WGTD)---Demolition of the former Eagles Club building in downtown Kenosha appears to be the foregone conclusion of a failed process to save the historic structure.
The city’s Historic Preservation Commission held its last scheduled meeting on the topic this week. The panel was following steps that are outlined in a city ordinance that's designed to encourage the city and building owners to work together to exhaust all possible means of preserving endangered historic buildings.
The 100 year-old Eagles Club building was last operated as Madrigrano Marina Shores. The owners are seeking to raze it following a devastating water pipe break a few winters ago.
Repairs are too costly, and a buyer has not stepped forward, although some preliminary inquiries were made. At the end of Wednesday’s meeting, Commission Chair Jan Michalski said he was “flabbergasted” and “heartbroken.”
Commission member Kathryn Jones expressed a similar sentiment. "I'm very sad to see this particular building go for both historic reasons and for the same kind of emotional reasons that anybody who's been around Kenosha for a long time has," she said.
Bill Siel, who represents the area on the city council, said he hopes what rises in its place is something unique to the downtown. "I hope what emerges is better and offers something that the downtown currently doesn't have," he said.
The next step in the process is for the city to contact the state Historic Preservation Office seeking any input it may have. An office spokesperson confirmed to WGTD that it’s powerless to stop demolition. The office will have 30 days to respond.
Barring an 11th hour purchase offer, the city is expected to issue a raze permit. City Inspector Gary Roberts tells WGTD he sees no grounds to deny the permit.
Eugene Brookhouse, a Madrigrano family building co-owner, was at Wednesday’s meeting. He said the family is sad to lose the building, as it was maintained as a labor of love for years by family patriarch Joseph Madrigrano, Sr.
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