It was 30 years ago this evening that we made our way to a side meeting room at Madison's Downtown Concourse Hotel (Senator Scott Klug's Victory Party was in the main ballroom that night). Dog-tired after an over 2-year public campaign to prepare Mad City voters for a decision that could change the city forever, we knew that polling showed we owned a razor thin edge...but we were exhausted at the months of combating innuendo and lies from a small but highly vocal minority.
It came down to the final few far westside precincts around midnight before the outcome was final...with an eighth of a percent of the vote clearing the latest hurdle in building one of Frank Lloyd Wright's last, great unbuilt masterpiece, Monona Terrace.
Sadly, a number of those that played a crucial part in the referendum win aren't here to raise a glass to the herculean effort to get this project to fruition, most notably George Nelson and Morris Andrews. But, I'll be raising my glass to them tonight, remembering the camaraderie and mentorship of those days and nights as we changed Madison forever.
30 years ago tonight...and, yeah, our polling was a little off.
Interested in more of the back story? I was honored earlier this year to be interviewed by Andreas Weissenborn of the Destinations International podcast "Architects of Destination Advocacy." Listen in here.
Comments