Heritage Preservation commission wants ability to intervene in historic La Crosse buildings up for demolition

The city of La Crosse’s Heritage Preservation commission could be given more power to intervene in plans to demolish historic buildings.

The Judiciary and Administration committee Tuesday approved an amendment to give binding authority to the commission on some actions involving older buildings.

The vote came less than a month after a building on 3rd Street, formerly the Pizza Villa, ranked as one of the 10 most endangered in La Crosse, was torn down after years of neglect.

Laura Gooden, on the commission, was recently on WIZM’s La Crosse Talk PM discussing this and other matters dealing with the city’s historic buildings.

Senior city planner, Tim Acklin, said several other Wisconsin cities already require a “certificate of appropriateness” before a historic structure can be demolished.

“With changes to this ordinance, we are requiring a certificate to appropriateness,” he said during the meeting. “So, there’s more binding authority in what the preservation commission allows them to do or not. It still does allow for an appeal to the council.”

The commission is also working on a 2021 Top 10 most endangered buildings list.