The Churchill still stands

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Churchill still lives. No, not that Churchill. Winston Churchill, the iconic World War II British prime minister, died in 1965. I’m referring to Madison’s Churchill Building, which seems to have weathered its latest storm and may stand in its nine stories of glory for much longer than many had thought. 

Almost two years ago I wrote a cover story for Isthmus about the impending destruction of the Churchill Building, Madison’s first “skyscraper.” The building, which was completed in 1915 on the Capitol Square and housed the offices of some of the city’s most important historical figures, seemed destined for the wrecking ball to make way for, ironically enough, a new state history museum. (Full disclosure: Before I was mayor I had my office in the Churchill and I confess a love for the old building.) 

Around the time the story appeared, Gov. Tony Evers included $70 million in his budget for the new museum. The building’s owner, Eric Hovde, had quietly deep-sixed attempts to get the building listed as a city landmark. All that seemed to stand between the building and its date with destruction was a private fundraising effort to come up with an additional $30 million for the museum project. 

But fundraising lagged, almost two years went by, and now the Wisconsin Historical Society and Evers have come up with a new, much better site. The new location is the block that GEF I now occupies, behind the Glass Bank, just off the square on East Washington Avenue. 

According to the Wisconsin State Journal, which reported the news, the reasons state officials give to support the move is that GEF I is near the end of its useful life (as if it ever had one) and that, since the site is completely controlled by the state, it’s a much more simple project than the complicated private-public mixed-use proposal on the corner of State and Carroll streets that would have involved the Churchill. A reason not stated was that the project envisioned by Hovde and his partner Fred Mohs involved a lot of office space. In the wake of the work-at-home trend caused by the pandemic, the market for office space is soft. It’s not clear that a project already weighted with complexity still made sense in a post-pandemic environment. 

And, while Churchill had its advocates, GEF I has never earned a friend. It may not be the ugliest building in Madison, but it has to be in the top 10. It gives bunkers a bad name. You would hope that nobody would come to its rescue, but this is Madison, after all. For all anyone knows, there is a Madison Collective for the Preservation of Brutalist Architecture out there, just waiting to toss a monkey wrench into all this, but let’s hope not. 

But having just dissed anyone who would complicate the project, let me do just that myself. Madison has a lot to gain from this. A beautiful, expanded new museum would increase visitors to our downtown. We very much have a dog in this fight. So, why not kick in a little city bonding authority to help build it in exchange for a slice of the new building for a city museum? I also wrote about that for Isthmus in July 2019.

Just to be clear, I’m not talking about using general city funds that would compete with other needs in the city’s deeply strained operating budget; I’m talking about the usual borrowing fund that helps build stuff. Interest rates are historically low and a new museum would pay back in the form of visitors spending more money in our city.

The Churchill Building isn’t quite safe yet. Hovde and Mohs are still looking at some kind of development on its block because the current state museum on that corner would create some kind of redevelopment opportunity once it is vacated. So, it would be a good thing if someone would move forward with a landmarks designation for the building. It’s already been prepared by the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation and just needs to be dusted off. Anyone can do it. Stu Levitan, are you reading this? 

I don’t mean to be critical of Hovde and Mohs. They want to make money, of course, but they’re also talking about redeveloping part of a city block that includes the old Wolff-Kubly building (no great piece of architecture in itself) and creating value that will help pay for other city needs through an expanded property tax base. I hope some other project on that block that doesn’t require the demolition of the Churchill will work out in the future. 

But with this new idea, there’s nothing to stand in the way of a home run: save the Churchill Building, replace the awful GEF I with a much better building, provide a great new home for the Wisconsin Historical Society museum and maybe even a brand new Madison history museum, and still redevelop part of the block on State and Carroll.

What’s not to like?