The Old SOB
By Michael Bridgeman
The State Office Building at 1 W. Wilson St.—conceived when Art Deco design was widely popular for commercial, institutional and government buildings—took nearly 30 years to complete. From the opening of the first section in 1931 to its completion in 1959, the building retained remarkable design integrity in spite of changing tastes during the long span of its construction.
The architect was Arthur Peabody. He was named Wisconsin’s first state architect in 1915 and served until 1939. His name appears on state building plans throughout his tenure and while the degree to which he participated in any given project is unclear, the State Office Building is among the work credited to him. The building is exceptional no matter who is the designer.
The State Office Building rises on Wilson Street at the foot of Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard.
Photo: Michael Bridgeman
Peabody said his building was in “modern style” (“Art Deco” only gained wide currency 30 years later). Decorative details enliven the structure with zig-zag patterns, motifs inspired by nature, simplified takes on classical themes, and incised medallions with eagles spaced regularly around the facades. The metal light fixtures and entryways are also eye-catching.
For reasons both practical and financial, the plan from the outset was to erect the State Office Building over time. When he finished his designs in 1928 or 1929 Peabody presented a unified plan which guided the work until the building’s completion.
Arthur Peabody’s original proposal for the State Office Building was “constructed essentially as designed” according to the National Register nomination, which goes on to call it “an extraordinary representative of the Art Deco period.” [Image: Wisconsin Historical Society, Image ID 51644]
A modest beginning (Phase 1)
In 1929, a house built 80 years earlier by Madison’s first mayor, Jairus Fairchild, was demolished to make way for the easternmost section of the new State Office Building. The granite cladding was quarried at Amberg in Marinette County where it was cut by inmates from the Wisconsin State Reformatory near Green Bay. The building, which rises six stories above Wilson Street, was built for $450,000 and opened in June of 1931. [1]
No ceremony or speeches accompanied the completion of the first phase of the new State Office Building in 1931. [Image: Wisconsin Historical Society, Image ID 51649]
Making an entrance (Phase 2)
Even before the original portion of the new building was fully occupied, the state legislature committed funds to cut the stone for the second phase. The State Office Building grew westward by adding two bays, the six-story section slightly recessed from the façade of the existing wing plus the 11-story “tower” that would become the central bay of the finished structure.
In July of 1938, the State Building Commission voted to accept a grant from the Public Works Administration, the Depression-era federal agency that subsidized large-scale public construction projects. [2] The balance was borrowed from the state insurance fund. The $1.832 million project was “officially completed” in May of 1942, though occupancy had started nearly two years earlier. Later that year Peabody died at 83, three years after retiring as state architect.
This is the view the State Office Building presented to Lake Monona after 1942, revealing four additional floors below the Wilson Street grade line. The small structure to the left would be demolished to make way for the final phase of construction. (Image: Postcard published by L.L. Cook; author’s collection)
Speaking to the Lions Club in 1938, a few months after the expansion of the State Office Building was approved, Frank Lloyd Wright bombastically declared it “a monstrosity ‘to anyone who thinks’.” He also derided the “provincial capitol” as “neither scholarly or gentlemanly.”
Aldric Revell, a political reporter and columnist for The Capital Times had a wittier take: “The state office building…looks like something Anthony might have dumped on Cleopatra’s lap during barge-trips up the Nile,” a wink to the massive Egyptoid columns that flank the main entrance.
The main entrance opens to a two-story lobby with tall bronze lamps and marble seats along the walls.
Photo: Michael Bridgeman
Project completed (Phase 3)
The groundbreaking ceremony for the third and final phase of construction took place in August of 1956. The estimated cost was $3.75 million. The building added two more bays: a second recessed six-story section plus the westernmost wing, which exposes seven stories above grade owing to the slope of Wilson Street. Occupancy began in the summer of 1959 and a year later the Wisconsin State Journal reported that the finished building now housed just more than 2,000 state employees.
On October 3, 1958, the Wisconsin State Journal published a photo showing the final wing of the State Office Building nearing completion. (Image: Newspapers.com)
The State Office Building at 1 W. Wilson St. is a visual delight. The greatest disappointment is not being able to take in the glorious lobby finishes including marble-faced walls, patterned terrazzo floors, brass grilles and elevator doors, and bronze light fixtures. Covid-19 restrictions and modern-day security make it difficult to enter the building and fully enjoy the gleaming public spaces. But there is plenty to take in on the exterior.
Click on the images below to enlarge and view details.
The building at 1 W. Wilson St. was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The building underwent extensive repair and renovation in 2012 and 2013. Exterior granite was cleaned and repaired, original steel window frames were repaired, and front stairways were rebuilt.
The State Office Building will soon turn 90. It wears its age well.
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1. Costs cited are from contemporary newspaper reports. Other sources may give different figures.
2. The Wisconsin State Journal reported that the project would support 200 jobs.