Commercial Locksmith in Madison, WI

State Street shops

A 2019 Madison Police Department notice describes State Street as a pedestrian mall. A private vehicle needs a State Street Auto Permit displayed, and the permit covers up to half an hour for work such as maintenance at a business on the street. The business hands over the permit at the start of the visit, while a longer job means legal parking off State Street. For a shop there, say in your request whether a permit will be available and which entrance to use.

Storefronts in the historic districts

Exterior changes in the city's five local historic districts go before the Madison Landmarks Commission, including in First Settlement, next to Capitol Square. Check with the city's Planning Division before replacing a storefront door there. Rekeying or repairing the existing hardware leaves the storefront as it is. This is general information, not legal advice.

Third Lake Ridge, the largest of those districts, mixes churches, hotels and warehouses with cottages, mansions and early multi-family buildings. A church, hotel or warehouse tends to have more doors than a house: a public entrance, a staff or service door, a loading door, and basement or mechanical rooms. Each may be on a different key, and older ones may use hardware that has to be matched rather than swapped for a standard modern lock.

Staff and tenant turnover

Keys leave with people. When an employee goes without returning a key, when a tenant moves out of a shared commercial building, or when a contractor's copy is unaccounted for, rekeying the affected cylinders makes the old keys useless. A few habits help:

• keep a written list of who holds which key
• key interior rooms and storerooms separately from exterior doors
• consider a restricted keyway, where key blanks are controlled, for doors many people use
• change keypad codes whenever someone with the code leaves

What to send

• the business name, address and the doors involved
• the door type: glass storefront, metal or wood
• whether the building is leased, and who owns the locks
• for State Street, whether a vehicle permit is available

The commercial locksmith and lock rekeying pages cover those services, and the Madison page puts State Street and the historic districts in one place.