Part of Wisconsin's brewing history is being razed. But West Milwaukee is saving Froedtert Malt artifacts.

A major part of Wisconsin's brewing industry is disappearing − but a small Milwaukee-area community is taking steps to help preserve some of that history.

The former Froedert Malt Corp. plant is being demolished to make way for future development one year after it was sold to a Waukesha-based investors group.

The industrial complex, located a few blocks east of Miller Park Way at 3830 W. Grant St., is known for its towering grain elevators and other large structures. That includes a former malt house, overlooking West Lincoln Avenue, that features in large letters the West Milwaukee company's slogan: "Better Beer Starts Here."

Froedtert Malt, which was launched just north of downtown Milwaukee in the late 19th century, began operating the Grant Street plant in the early 1920s.

The company supplied malted barley for Miller Brewing Co., Pabst Brewing Co. and Schlitz Brewing Co. − all based in Milwaukee − along with other beer makers throughout the nation as well as foreign brewers, said Joe Walzer, project director of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's "Encyclopedia of Milwaukee."

"Milwaukee was kind of the malting capital of the United States, and in some ways, the world," Walzer, also a UWM lecturer in history and ethnic studies, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Froedtert was a huge piece of that."

The plant went through various owners since the 1980s, and was operated by Malteurop until January 2022.

Area's last stand-alone malting facility

It was the Milwaukee area's last stand-alone malting facility after the closing of Fleischmann-Kurth Malting, 2100 S. Miller Park Way, in 2004.

Also, West Milwaukee's Krause Milling Co., 4200 W. Burnham St., didn't produce malt but did mill grain for brewers and other industrial customers. It closed in 2003.

Those plants were demolished and replaced with such businesses as a Skechers shoe store, an Applebee's restaurant and a Dental Associates clinic.

Now, West Milwaukee is buying some of Froedtert Malt's artifacts.

"We used to have three malt houses in Milwaukee," said Craig Schaefer, a West Milwaukee Village Board trustee who's leading the effort. "Something should be preserved."

Schaefer spoke with the Journal Sentinel after the village Tourism Commission recently voted to spend up to $42,000 to buy Froedtert Malt artifacts from New Berlin Grading Inc.

New Berlin Grading was hired to raze the plant by its owner, 3830 West Grant Street LLC, a group led by Tom Beaudry, who operates Waukesha-based concrete contractor Beaudry Services Inc.

New Berlin Grading set aside the artifacts after hearing last year of Schaefer's interest in the items, said Ken Kroeger, company president.

"It's not our job to save stuff," said Kroeger, whose company is reducing much of the former Froedtert Malt plant to rubble. "But you don't want to wreck history."

Artifacts include a large stone frieze, stained glass

The artifacts being purchased include pieces of a large stone frieze, depicting various aspects of the brewing industry, which adorned Froedtert Malt's office building.

Schaefer envisions them some day being installed on a decorative archway that could be built in a park or other public space within West Milwaukee.

Other artifacts being purchased include decorative stained glass, historic photos, decorative medallions removed from buildings and two life-size bronze statues of men sowing and reaping grain used in the malting process, Schaefer said.

Schaefer said the artifacts could serve as an attraction to draw more visitors to West Milwaukee.

That community over the past 20 years has evolved from a home to heavy industry to a more service-oriented economy. That includes a Fairfield Inn hotel which opened in 2019 at 4229 W. National Ave., less than 1 mile from American Family Field − home to the Milwaukee Brewers.

"Beer tourism is a very hot thing," Schaefer said.

The artifacts also will help keep alive the story of Froedtert Malt and its longtime president, Kurtis Froedtert.

It's a story worth telling, Walzer said.

Company dates back to 1875

The company's roots date to 1875, when brothers Jacob and William Froedtert expanded their grain and feed business to include malting facilities near West Cherry and North Seventh streets, Walzer said.

Kurtis Froedtert in 1915 became president of Froedtert Malt before turning 30 after his father William died. He moved the company to West Milwaukee in the 1920s, where it grew to become the world's largest malting plant − despite Prohibition.

"It's really kind of incredible that they survived Prohibition," Walzer said. "Not only survived it, but thrived."

It helped that Froedtert Malt had customers outside the United States where production of beer wasn't illegal, Walzer said.

Also, the company sold malt syrup to grocers, he said.

The syrup was marketed as a sweetener and as a "health tonic," Walzer said.

But it was likely used mainly by people brewing their own beer in defiance of Prohibition, which lasted nearly 14 years before being repealed in 1933.

Kurtis Froedtert also became a key figure in the Milwaukee area's commercial development scene, investing in companies that developed Mayfair and Southgate shopping centers.

He also left a legacy after his 1951 death by donating money used to launch Froedtert Hospital.

Froedtert's name was in the news 70 years after he died because of a court battle centering on how Froedtert Hospital Trust managed that money. That dispute was settled in 2021 through the creation of an $11.5 million scholarship fund for UWM and Milwaukee Area Technical College students.

Froedtert Malt operated for decades under local ownership after Kurtis Froedtert's death.

French food company Lesaffre bought the business in 1986. Lesaffre in 1998 merged it with the malting business of Archer Daniels Midland Co. to create International Malting Co.

Archer Daniels Midland later bought Lesaffre's share of the business. The company sold its malting operations in 2008 to Malteurop, based in Reims, France.

Malteurop said in 2021 it was closing the West Milwaukee plant, and eliminating 28 jobs, because of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a notice filed with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

Cleared site is now listed for sale at $10 million

Now, the 17-acre former Froedtert Malt property is for sale at $10 million "free and clear of all structures," according to a listing at LoopNet.com, a commercial real estate website. It was sold in April 2022 to Beaudry's group for $900,000.

The former malt plant site, where demolition will continue for months, will be redeveloped for other uses, Schaefer said.

Meanwhile, Schaefer said preserving elements of the village's brewing industry heritage can play a role in helping West Milwaukee grow.

"I think we should lean on our industrial history," he said.

An earlier version of this article incorrectly described Krause Milling Co. as a malting plant. It actually milled grain for brewers and other industrial customers.

Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.