Frank Lloyd Wright first proposed a building for this Lake Monona shore in 1938; Monona Terrace finally opened in 1997. This place began as a bold idea in 1938, proposed by famed architect and Wisconsin native Frank Lloyd Wright. That original plan was rejected by the Dane County development board by one vote, but Wright kept revising the design and seeking support until his death in 1959.
For the next four decades, proposals for a convention center on this land came and went, repeatedly considered and rejected. Several times supporters seemed close to securing public financing, only to have forces like the start of World War II sideline the project. In 1990 Madison mayor Paul Soglin resurrected Wright’s proposal, even as opponents argued the building was not a genuine Wright creation and that the costs were too steep for taxpayers.
The result you see today opened in 1997: a 250,000 square foot (23,000 m2) building that now draws nearly 400,000 visitors annually. A single vote sank Wright's first plan, and Paul Soglin revived it in 1990.