Gilbert M. Simmons Library - Kenosha, WI
N 42° 34.843 W 087° 49.168
16T E 432754 N 4714581
The Gilbert M. Simmons Library was built in 1900. It is the focal point of the Kenosha Library Park and is located at 711 59th Place in Kenosha, WI.
Waymark Code: WM5H86
Location: Wisconsin, United States
Date Posted: 01/07/2009
Views: 4
6. LIBRARY PARK, 7th Ave, between 59th PL and 61st St., extending to 8th Ave., contains the Gilbert M. Simmons Library (open 8:30-9 weekdays; 2-5, 7-9 Sun.). Z. G. Simmons donated the funds for the construction of the library, and in May, 1900, the building was dedicated to his son. D. H. Burnham designed the building to conform to the architecture of the 1893 World's Fair. In neo-classic style, it is a low, one-story building with Corinthian columns and a dome, constructed of Bedofrd limestone. The Lincoln Monument, NE. corner of the park, a bronze statue of Lincoln seated in a chair, was the gift of Orla Miner Calkins to the city in 1909, and is a replica of the monument, sculptured by Charles H. Niehaus, at Muskegon, Mich. The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in the north section of the park, a granite Corinthian column with the figure of a winged victory on top, is dedicated to the Civil War veterans.
---Wisconsin, A Guide to the Badger State, 1941
Today the library looks much as it did in 1940
The Kenosha Library Park web site describes the library:
"One of Kenosha’s prominent Neo-Classical Revival civic buildings, the Simmons Library was designed by nationally acclaimed architect Daniel H. Burnham. In Chicago, Burnham was chief of construction and director of works for the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. The exposition’s “White City” did much to fuel the Neo-Classical Revival in architecture in the early twentieth century in America.
Built for $150,000, the library is a one-story building sitting on a raised foundation. It has a cross plan and is built of Bedford limestone, decorated with marble, bronze, mosaics, and frescoes. At the center is the building’s dome, sitting on a drum and decorated with a running swag design. Steps lead to monumental bronze doors. Visitors are invited inside the building to view the beautiful marble interior.
In 1899, Z.G. Simmons, a local industrialist, offered to build a free public library and give it to the city. He stipulated that the library be named for his late son and that the city levy a tax to support its operations. The city agreed, and on May 30, 1900, the new library was dedicated."