City/county/state cooperation makes center a reality

Madison, Wis. – In 1938, scientists discovered Teflon and manufactured nylon. The uranium atom was split, and Orson Welles’ Halloween prank, War of the Worlds, spawned a nationwide panic. And the idea for the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center was born.

Now, Monona Terrace has come full circle. The last great civic work designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the center has finally opened, thanks to a diverse set of public and private interests. The $67.1 million, five-level, 602,610-square-foot structure was first designed by Wright in 1938 but languished on his drawing board until after his death in 1959. However, Taliesin Architects, the local practice that is the continuation of the practice begun by Wright in 1893, would not let the project drop.

So countless redesigns later, the center, with Wright’s trademark circular forms, landscaped roof and helical design elements, is open for business on a 4.4-acre site fronting Lake Monona and completing an axis with the Wisconsin State Capitol Building.

A 68,000-square-foot rooftop garden public park designed to accommodate outdoor events is a central element in the building, which also includes a central space for large assemblies, multi-media presentations, exhibitions and conventions; a ballroom, a 308-seat lecture hall, nine meeting rooms offices and a high-windowed promenade/lobby overlooking the lake.

The steel-reinforced concrete structure actually extends 90 feet over the lake and is surrounded on other sides by an extensive network of pedestrian and bicycle paths, gardens and informal seating areas. Its location made it subject to comprehensive state and federal environmental review and required 1,700 support piles. A bowed and scalloped 34-foot-high window wall of aqua glass and aluminum, crowned by a series of pendential arches, extends most of the building’s length and allows for spectacular lake views.

The building’s exterior is limestone-colored precast concrete wall panels and stucco to blend with the landscape. Still, despite Wright’s attention to the exterior, the center’s interior includes the flexibility to use the most modern telecommunications and audiovisual technology. “I’m confident we haven’t done anything [he] wouldn’t have done,” says Anthony Puttnam, once a Wright apprentice who was principal-in-charge of the project for Taliesin. “Many people associate his concept of ‘Organic Architecture’ with pastoral settings. But he was keenly aware of urban design issues and opportunities.”

The footprint and exterior, Puttnam says, are virtually identical to Wright’s last design. But, he notes, “We had to accommodate the requirements of modern-day mechanical systems and environmental regulations, as well as changes in technology, building codes and materials.” The center rests on a parcel of land between Lake Monona and an active highway and railroad corridor. Then-Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, along with Gov. Tommy Thompson and Dane County executives, helped push the project to completion. Already the subject of an entire book, the center may be the only government-owned facility to take half-a-century to win voter approval.

Still, in addition to local political support, the project needed private support. It got it in the form of $8 million from 80 different companies and individual donors.

The center was designed and built by Taliesin, Potter Lawson Architects and Arnold and O’Sheridan Engineers, all from Madison.