About
Contact us
Our physical office is located in the Bellevue apartment building at 21 E. Wilson St. near Monona Terrace. If you’d like to visit please call ahead as it is a residential building and not as accessible as a typical commercial building.
Madison Trust for Historic Preservation P.O. Box 296 Madison, WI 53701-0296
info@madisonpreservation.org
voice: 608-441-8864
fax: 608-204-0711
Background
The Madison Trust for Historic Preservation was founded in 1974 in the wake of two events that affected prominent historic places. In the mid-1960s the Gilman St. mansion of home of William F. Vilas was demolished to build a modern commercial building in the middle of what is now the Mansion Hill historic district. In 1971 an old stone farmhouse called ‘Mapleside’ on University Avenue was demolished to build a Burger King restaurant. New York Times architecture critic, Ada Louise Huxtable, wrote a column criticizing the trend of demolition in the name of urban renewal and blight remediation. She led with a report of Mapleside’s demolition, calling out Madison in the national newspaper for not caring for its historic places. Originally our mission was to operate a revolving fund to purchase, rehabilitate and resell old and historic properties. Since then our mission has shifted toward advocacy for and education about Madison’s historic places.
For three decades the Madison Trust operated as a community-based advocacy organization with a volunteer Board of Trustees and the help of many volunteers to whom historic places matter. Our small budget came from membership dues and a few small annual fund-raising events. In 2009 we received a matching grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation Board to hire our first-ever staff person. Jason Tish took the position and has served as our Executive Director since then.
Our Mission
The Madison Trust for Historic Preservation provides leadership in the preservation of important historic places in the greater Madison area through advocacy, education and technical assistance.
We operate on the principle that significant historic places are important to our city’s sense of place, and residents’ sense of identity and community. Historic places can be individual works of architecture, historic landscapes, traditional neighborhoods, parks, Indian mounds, cemeteries. Historic places are tangible links to our city’s history. They are places that we can see, touch and walk through to get a sense of what was important to the people who have lived here, loved this city, and took initiatives to make it better. We believe that Madison should have a positive preservation ethic, and city policy that provides incentives for the continued viability and conservation of our important historic places.
Madison is rich with places that convey its history. The National Register of Historic Places lists over 130 individual properties and more than 20 historic districts. Our local historic preservation ordinance ordinance lists 178 individual properties and 5 historic districts. There are more places that meet the criteria but have not yet been nominated for official recognition.
Who We Are
The Madison Trust is an independent, nonprofit, community-supported organization. We are guided by a volunteer Board of Trustees which employs a full-time executive director. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization operating in Madison, Wisconsin.
We are not a city agency, though we work closely with the Madison Landmarks Commission and other municipal agencies to advance our goals. The Madison Trust also works with other groups with shared interests including Historic Madison Inc., the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Wisconsin Trust for Historic Preservation.
The Madison Trust is a Local Partner of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, 
along with more than 100 other Statewide and Local Partners. The Partners Network provides a forum for sharing model practices, solving organizational problems, and improving our effectiveness.
Our Board
The Madison Trust board meets monthly to monitor the progress of the organization, and draft our position on local preservation and development issues.
- Vicki Siekert, President
- John Martens, Vice President
- Michelle Martin, Treasurer
- Amy Wyatt, Secretary
- Sam Breidenbach
- Jane Crandall
- Elizabeth Cwik
- Jeri Grogg
- Donna Hellenbrand
- Steve Holtzman
- Larry Lester
- Roman Vetter
- Ginny Way
- Jason Tish, Executive Director
Our Goals
- Promote revitalization of Madison’s old and historic neighborhoods in ways that retain their historic character.
- Promote and support the continued viability of Madison’s historic places and traditional neighborhoods.
- Recognize and support projects that rehabilitate and reuse existing and historic buildings in the Madison area.
- Provide opportunities to learn about and experience Madison’s history
- Assist other organizations with preservation efforts.
- Facilitate communication about planning and development proposals that affect Madison’s historic places.
Our Programs
- We run a series of historic architecture tours throughout the summer.
- We hold an annual series of Winter Workshops for owners of old homes and buildings.
- In May of each year we hold our annual Preservation Awards event to recognize projects designed to retain the historic character of old properties in the Madison area while facilitating the reuse of a historic place.
- We sponsor and support local Landmark nominations and National Register nominations.
- Our website is intended to be a source of information and news regarding our historic places and the city’s policy toward conservation of those historic places.
- We publish a quarterly print newsletter which is distributed to our members and city officials.