Madison in the Sixties – the first week of June, 1961
Two months after businessman Henry Reynolds was elected mayor on a platform of killing the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Monona Terrace civic center, the Auditorium Committee dominated by his appointees votes to do just that. With pro-Monona Terrace members appointed by former mayor Ivan Nestingen now in the minority, Reynolds and his appointees vote 6-3 to terminate the contract with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and start from scratch.
Although the sharpest attacks on the project have involved criticism of Wright’s politics, lifestyle and business practices, Reynolds and his allies on the committee argue exclusively that the project as designed is just too expensive. The 1956 contract between the Foundation and the city set a limit of five and a half million dollars for the project which would combine an auditorium, exhibition hall, art gallery and community center; but when construction bids went out earlier this year,
Madison, the first week of April, 1961 Close Close Close
Madison, the first week of April, 1961.
As the municipal election of 1961 approached, no one expected Mayor Ivan Nestingen to be a candidate. The 39-year-old attorney and former state representative was certainly popular enough to coast to victory first elected in a special election in 1956, elected to a full two-year term in 1957 by a 3–1 margin, he was reelected without opposition in 1959. And now he’s riding high as the champion of the Frank Lloyd Wright Monona Terrace auditorium and convention center, which he’s pushed to the verge of construction.
But Nestingen had led the Kennedy for President Club during the successful Wisconsin primary campaign in 1960, and chaired the state delegation to the national convention, so everyone assumed he’d leave Madison for a job in the new administration.
Madison, the first week of March, 1961
Madison in the Sixties
The Spring primary on March 7 brings double-barreled bad news for Frank Lloyd Wright’s Monona Terrace auditorium and exhibition hall.
In the morning, construction bids are opened for the ambitious project which the city approved in 1954, but which opponents have delayed since then through litigation and legislation. And it’s quickly evident that their plan to kill the project through economic pressures was a good one, as more than six years of inflation knocked the budget completely out of whack.
In November 1954, city voters approved $4 million in bonds for the project which the world-famous architect said would marry the city and the lake. The city parking utility later added $1.5 million, for a total budget of five and a half million, and the project finally went out to bid earlier this year.
Madison in the Sixties – January 20, 1961
In 1960, Sen. John F. Kennedy didn’t carry Madison in the Democratic presidential primary or Wisconsin in the general election. But his candidacy still had a profound local impact.
His primary campaign against Sen. Hubert Humphrey created enough Badgerland bitterness to last for years, even damaging the federal judiciary. And his election utterly transformed local politics, and ended the effort to build Frank Lloyd Wright’s Monona Terrace auditorium and convention center.
Kennedy’s advisors didn’t want him entering the primary against the friendly liberal from neighboring Minnesota, who had two extra sectors of support. Some feared the Pope would unduly influence the Catholic Kennedy, while others who actually supported two-time nominee Adlai Stevenson were trying to block Kennedy from a first-ballot nomination at the national convention, hoping delegates would then draft the former Illinois Governor.
Fred Risser s Watchful Eye: Reflections on Legislative Service
Attorney and state Senator Fred Risser retires next month after 64 years of legislative service. This glimpse can only begin to recount the remarkable career of the longest serving state legislator in both Wisconsin and U.S. history. But, we ll give it a try.