Wisconsin approves state historic marker for Milwaukee’s former This Is It! LGBTQ bar building

A state-level preservation step for a long-running Milwaukee gathering place

State preservation officials have approved a Wisconsin state historical marker for the building that housed This Is It!, a longtime LGBTQ bar in downtown Milwaukee that ended operations in 2025. The approval, dated March 4, clears a key step toward publicly interpreting the site’s history through the state’s marker program.

This Is It! operated near Cathedral Square on East Wells Street and was widely recognized as Wisconsin’s oldest continually operating gay bar before its closure. The business traced its origins to 1968 and remained a fixture of Milwaukee nightlife for decades, drawing local patrons and visitors and hosting events that ranged from casual social gatherings to organized community nights.

What the designation does—and what it does not do

The approval concerns a state historical marker, a program administered by the Wisconsin Historical Society that authorizes markers and regulates their wording and use. Under Wisconsin’s historical markers program, markers identify sites of historical, cultural, or natural heritage and are subject to state approval; plaques may not include the name of a current property owner.

A marker designation is primarily interpretive. It does not automatically change ownership, guarantee a building’s future use, or by itself impose the same regulatory framework associated with municipal historic preservation ordinances. In Milwaukee, local historic designation follows a separate process through the city’s Historic Preservation Commission.

• Approved action: A state historical marker for the site associated with This Is It! has been approved.

• Focus: Public commemoration and interpretation of the site’s historical significance.

• Separate track: Local historic designation, if pursued, would proceed under the City of Milwaukee’s historic designation procedures.

Background: closure and community history

This Is It! closed in March 2025. In public statements at the time, the business cited pandemic-era impacts and an extended period of nearby street and sidewalk disruption among factors that it could not overcome. The closure ended a nearly 57-year run and added urgency to efforts to preserve the bar’s story through documentation and public history projects.

In the years before it shut down, the bar collaborated on historical interpretation efforts, including the installation of history panels connected to broader work documenting LGBTQ spaces in Wisconsin. Preservation advocates have also pointed to the relative scarcity of official state markers recognizing LGBTQ history as context for prioritizing sites with long, well-documented community roles.

The marker approval creates a formal pathway for the building’s LGBTQ history to be presented to the public through the state’s official program.

What comes next

With state approval in place, the marker project typically moves into final development steps that can include production, site logistics and installation arrangements, and long-term stewardship responsibilities tied to maintaining the marker. The timing of installation and final marker text are expected to be determined through the standard procedures required for Wisconsin historical markers.