Monona Terrace (officially the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center) is a
convention center
A convention center (American and British English spelling differences, American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a Convention (meeting), convention, where individuals and groups ...
on the shores of
Lake Monona in
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...
.
Controversy
The building was originally designed and proposed by Wisconsin native
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...
in 1938. The county board rejected the plan by a single vote. Wright would continue to seek support for the plan (and alter its design) until his death in 1959.
For the next four decades, various proposals for a convention center on the Monona Terrace land would be considered and rejected. Several times, it appeared that supporters of the project would be able to secure the public financing to complete the project, but various forces (such as the start of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
) inevitably sidelined the plan. In 1990, Madison Mayor
Paul Soglin resurrected Wright's proposal. Among the arguments against its construction, opponents argued that it was not a genuine Wright building, that the costs were too steep for the tax payers to bear and that the construction would adversely affect the environment, specifically destroying the view of Lake Monona from street level on the south side of the Capitol Square.
Milwaukee Sentinel
The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper and also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely read. It was purchased by the ...
Madison struggles with Wright choice for Center
1992-08-12. Retrieved 2011-04-21.Milwaukee Sentinel
The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper and also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely read. It was purchased by the ...
Madison Votes Lean Toward Approval
1992-11-04. Retrieved 2011-04-21. Additionally, the site of the land stands on historic Ho-Chunk Nation burial mounds. The proposed construction was put to a public referendum in 1992 and it passed. Construction began two years later.
In 1997, nearly sixty years after Wright's original conception, Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center opened its doors.
Location

Monona Terrace is located two blocks from the
Wisconsin State Capitol building in downtown Madison.
From the roof of Monona Terrace, one can see views of downtown Madison, including the Capitol and a panoramic view of Lake Monona.
Development
Wright made several alterations to the design of Monona Terrace during his lifetime. Although the exterior design is Wright's, the interior as executed was designed by former Wright apprentice Anthony Puttnam of
Taliesin Associated Architects.
The building was constructed by J.H. Findorff and Son Inc., a southern Wisconsin contractor.
Facilities
The facility hosts over 600 conventions, meetings and weddings each year that result in an average of $52 million in economic activity for the region. Monona Terrace also runs free community programs that serve approximately 56,000 people each year. Monona Terrace also offers guided tours, a gift shop, a rooftop cafe (warm weather months only), and serves as the home for some of the community's events including the national radio variety show
Michael Feldman's ''Whad'Ya Know?'', Dane Dances,
Ironman Wisconsin, and U.S. Bank Eve.
Gallery
File:Monona1.jpg,
File:Monona2.jpg,
File:Monona3.jpg,
File:Monona4.jpg,
File:Monona5.jpg,
File:Monona6.jpg,
File:Monona7.jpg,
File:Monona8.jpg,
See also
*
List of Frank Lloyd Wright works
References
External links
*
Photographed in HDR
{{Authority control
Frank Lloyd Wright buildings
Convention centers in Wisconsin
Buildings and structures in Madison, Wisconsin
Tourist attractions in Madison, Wisconsin
1997 establishments in Wisconsin
Event venues established in 1997