2003 Preservation Awards
Michael Davy Block (Chin‘s Asia Fresh)
[photo: Zane Williams]
422 State Street
Lew Toppel, owner
Christopher Gosch, architect, Sieger Architects
Award: Commercial Rescue and Restoration
The Michael Davy block is a two-story Romanesque Revival brick building built in 1896 in the 400 block of State Street. The original occupant was the Battle Creek Sanitarium, which had a sanitarium and health resort on Lake Monona and a health food restaurant in this building.
For the last 30-some years the Happy Medium stereo store had occupied it. In late 2002, Happy Medium downsized into the space next door, and Chin’s Asia Fresh Restaurant opened in the renovated space.
Lew Toppel, who has owned the building since 1984, and his new tenants wanted to preserve what they could of the building’s original features. They hired Christopher Gosch of Sieger Architects in Madison, who was able to blend existing historic details and a big-city warehouse look in the new restaurant.
One of the more massive buildings on State Street, its most prominent salvaged features are the 14-foot-tall windows on the second floor that are connected by a Romanesque running arch. These windows had been cement-blocked in while the second floor served as storage over the years.
Original hardwood floors on the second floor are now visible, complete with historic mystery stains, as are the light-colored brick walls. Although the second floor needed significant shoring up with new I-beams, the original cast-iron columns are still there.
The Michael Davy Block before renovation.
[photo: Joe Lusson]
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Other 2003 Award Winners
Michael Davy Block
