Field Notes #1
by Michael Bridgeman
An irregular series of brief observations, updates, asides, and occasional insights about the Madison area’s historical built environment.
More Scaffolds
New York’s Flatiron Building
I visited New York City in January and was walking toward a destination on 23rd Street when The Flatiron Building came into view and, for the first time, I saw it enveloped by scaffolding. As I wrote last summer, scaffolding can alter our perceptions of familiar structures when they are interrupted by pipes, planks, and porous fabric. The Flatiron looks not so sliver-thin when wrapped in scaffolds.
Wisconsin Historical Society Building
The north façade of the Wisconsin Historical Society Building at 816 State Street now has an armature of pipes and long bands of see-through orange fabric. The Beaux Arts details of the Neo-Classical building are obscured, though a walk to any other side of the building quickly brings them to sight. The scaffolding is for workers who are repairing and restoring the limestone exterior of the 1900 building.
The Bradley House, now the Sigma Phi Fraternity House
Look for scaffolding to return to the Bradley House at 106 North Prospect Avenue in mid-May. Last summer, faded black paint was stripped from the east and south façades which were refinished with a lighter stain in keeping with the house’s original color. The restoration continues this summer with re-staining of the north and west façades as well as repair and reinstallation of the decorative cantilevers at the west porch.
Bids Are Open
GEF 3 and GEF 2 are for sale.
In March, the Wisconsin Department of Administration announced the sale of two former state office buildings in downtown Madison as part of the Vision 2030 plan. Bids are open through June 5 for GEF (General Executive Facility) 2 and GEF 3 located at 101 and 125 South Webster Street. The Brutalist-style buildings have never been beloved by most Madisonians. Wisconsin Public Radio reported that, “Jason Ilstrup, who leads Downtown Madison, Inc., anticipates those two buildings just east of the state Capitol ... will eventually be torn down to make way for a large development with multiple uses.”
The old State Office Building
On April 29, the Wisconsin State Journal reported that officials may vote this month to accept a $10 million bid for the State Office Building at 1 West Wilson Street, which was put up for bids last year. As I wrote in December, a historic preservation conservation easement held by the Wisconsin Historical Society makes the property “subject to certain covenants, restrictions and provisions ... and will be considered as running with the land in perpetuity.”
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Image Credits
All photographs by Michael Bridgeman