PROGRAM

In 1909, a group of three hundred Madisonians met to consider commissioning a comprehensive plan that would guide the future growth and development of Wisconsin’s capitol city. By a unanimous vote, John Nolen, a landscape architect based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and one of America’s leading town planning and civic design professionals, was hired to prepare the plan. That plan, “Madison: A Model City”, included Nolan’s vision of connecting the Capitol to the lake. Though Nolan’s plan was never fully realized, over the years it has remained an inspiration for development of the Lake Monona’s waterfront. Now, a new major planning initiative, sponsored by the City of Madison and Friends of the Nolan waterfront, is again drawing Madison’s attention to its downtown lakefront. “Voices of the Lake” is a new master plan for the Lake Monona waterfront, introduced to the public by a design team at Sasaki Associates, Denver office, in 2023. This presentation will focus on John Nolen’s 1911 model city plan and then look at how new voices and ideas have informed the current plan to re-envision the future of Madison’s signature lakefront park.

SPEAKERS: Anna Cawrse and Lynn Bjorkman

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