2004 Preservation Awards
Joseph Hackel Building
307–309 State Street
[photo: Larry Lester]
Joseph Hackel Building
307–309 State Street
Sassafras and Karen & Co.
Karen and Dan Fix, owners
Tom Haver Construction
Sandy Gordon, designer
Award: Commercial restoration
As part of our ongoing effort to promote the preservation of historic commercial buildings on State Street, the Trust is recognizing Karen and Dan Fix for the rehabilitation of the Joseph Hackel Building, 307–309 State Street. Hackel erected 307 State in 1875, with a matching storefront added in 1904. The Hackel building is a good example of a vernacular brick commercial building from the later half of the nineteenth century.
The Fixes have been associated with the building since 1971 when they opened their clothing and apparel store, Sassafras, right out of college. Eight years later they opened Karen and Company a block away at 418 State. In the early 1980s Dan and Karen purchased the Hackel building which included the two storefronts and apartments above.
In 2003, when Marmalade Skies moved out of 309 State, it allowed the Fixes to first renovate one space and then the other. They hired designer Sandy Gordon and Tom Haver Construction of Madison to oversee the work. They restored and replaced damaged parts of the pressed tin ceiling and added beautiful custom woodwork, including detailed crown molding and wide base boards. Electric, plumbing, heating and cooling systems were also redone. A skylight was uncovered and repaired.
During construction, an opening was uncovered and now connects Sassafras to Karen & Company, which they moved from its location down the street. Also discovered was a mural of a cigar store indian on the original plaster walls at 309 State, reflecting its origins as a cigar store.
Part of the interior restoration was inspired by the woodwork inside an old bar in Sturgeon Bay. The exterior rehabilitation was inspired by old buildings seen during the Fixes bicycle trips through towns like Princeton and Ripon, Wisconsin, as well as from a historic Agnus McVicar photograph of the building seen in Double Take, Zane Williams’s anthology of Madison architectural photography.
For the exterior restoration, the 1970s-era rough brown paneling was removed, and the door and window openings reconfigured. The non-original doors to both stores and the second-story apartments were replaced with beautiful oak and glass doors, one of the classiest features on the whole of State Street. The storefront design, while not original to the building, successfully alludes to the historic nature of buildings of the later 19th and early 20th centuries.
The project was a successful collaboration of building owner, designer, builder and local government. The Fixes note that city agencies and Downtown Madison Inc. were extremely helpful and cooperative, allowing them to stay on schedule and open successfully.
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Other 2004 Award Winners
Joseph Hackel Building
