MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Historical Society announces the listing of the Gay Building in Madison (Dane County) on the State Register of Historic Places. State Historic Preservation Officer Daina Penkiunas presented a certificate to historic preservation consultant Lara Ramsey. The nine-story building at 16 North Carroll Street overlooks the Capitol Square.
The Gay Building, now called the Churchill Building, was erected between 1913 to 1915 while the present Wisconsin State Capitol was also under construction. Concern over the Gay Building’s height was the opening shot in an intense decade-long debate among city officials, residents, and planners around how such “skyscrapers” might affect the visual appearance of the city and raised larger questions about the shape of civic life in Madison. The opening of the Gay Building and plans for other commercial high-rises led to state legislation in 1921 restricting the height of buildings around the Capitol Square. City officials included similar height limits in Madison’s first zoning ordinance implemented the following year.
Real estate developer Leonard W. Gay hired architects James R. Law and Edward J. Law to design the first high-rise office building erected in the city. The brothers were then launching a practice that would make them the leading architects in the city during the 1920s and 1930s. The commercial success of the Gay Building also demonstrated that Madison could support denser development within its commercial core.
The State Register is Wisconsin’s official list of state properties determined to be significant to Wisconsin’s heritage. The State Historic Preservation Office at the Wisconsin Historical Society administers both the State Register and National Register in Wisconsin. Click here for answers to frequently asked questions about the registers.
Additional information for the Gay Building is available at
To learn more about the State and National Register programs in Wisconsin, visit: www.wisconsinhistory.org.
About the Wisconsin Historical Society
The Wisconsin Historical Society, founded in 1846, ranks as one of the largest, most active and most diversified state historical societies in the nation. As both a state agency and a private membership organization, its mission is to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories. The Wisconsin Historical Society serves millions of people every year through a wide range of sites, programs and services. For more information, visit wisconsinhistory.org.
