W. Jerome Frautschi pledges $10 million for new Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Downtown Madison

The existing Wisconsin Veterans Museum opened in 1993 in part of a 10-story building at 30 W. Mifflin St. on Capitol Square, but the space leaves no ability to expand, which limits the museum’s ability to execute its mission, Frautschi said.

Gov. Tony Evers has proposed spending $9 million to buy the current site and do preliminary engineering work on a new museum in his proposed biennial budget for 2024-25. The remaining public funding would be in the 2026-27 biennium. The 10-story building, now privately owned, is assessed at $6.6 million for 2022.

“I support the Wisconsin Veterans Museum’s goal of building a brand-new state-of-the-art facility at 30 West Mifflin Street, as it continues to advance my goal for a cultural arts district in Downtown Madison,” Frautschi said in a statement. “The proximity to the new Wisconsin History Center, the State Capitol, and the Madison Children’s Museum creates the opportunity for great synergies between the organizations.”

Frautschi and his wife, Pleasant Rowland, have contributed broadly and deeply — hundreds of millions of dollars — to many of the city’s major projects, including Overture Center, the Wisconsin History Center, the Madison Youth Arts Center, the Central Library, the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra facility, UW-Hospital, the Center for Black Excellence and Culture, the Urban League of Greater Madison’s Black Business Hub, One City Schools and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Dane County.

Independent missions

In the 2010s, there were discussions about a shared development for a new Wisconsin Historical Society history center and Veterans Museum, but in 2019 it was determined that the best way for both museums to make their respective missions was to proceed independently.

Last week, the Historical Society shared a preliminary design of a glassy, modernistic $160.5 million new history center at the top of State Street on Capitol Square. The five-story, roughly 100,000-square-foot history center will rise on the site of the existing, undersized museum at 30 N. Carroll St. and adjacent properties at 20 and 22 N. Carroll St.

In 2021, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum and the state started a process to determine the museum’s requirements and develop a vision for a new $120 million facility. The Veterans Museum Foundation aims to raise $40 million in private contributions. Frautschi’s $10 million donation is the first major gift.

“Mr. Frautschi’s gift represents the cornerstone of the foundation’s campaign to fund the new facility capable of housing the legacy of our current and past Wisconsin Veterans’ service and sacrifices to our nation and her people,” Daniel Checki, chairman of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum Foundation board, said in a statement.

“On behalf of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum Foundation board of directors and Wisconsin veterans past and present, we thank him for his continued and generous commitment to support this new endeavor on the Capitol Square,” he said.

“I’m thrilled at today’s announcement,” said Ald. Mike Verveer, 4th District, who represents the core Downtown. “Our state’s veterans deserve an institution that commemorates their service to our country. It makes all the sense in the world to keep the museum at the top of State Street.

No longer adequate

The Wisconsin Veterans Museum dates to 1901 when it was established as the Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Hall in the state Capitol. It is an educational activity of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs and a Smithsonian Institution Affiliate since 2014, one of only three in Wisconsin, which gives it access to the Smithsonian’s unparalleled collections and scholarship.

The current facility was adequate when it opened 30 years ago, but it is no longer so and the museum, which uses the first three floors and basement of the building, can’t fully execute three major parts of its mission, museum director Chris Kolakowski said.

There is insufficient exhibit space to cover Vietnam to the present; education space is small with room for 50 people at most and lacks in capability to host more than lectures or small events; and the building and its HVAC is 55-plus years old and the museum needs upgrades to a state-of-the-art system to ensure proper care for artifacts on display and the archives, Kolakowski said.

The museum study, completed in early 2022, considered many locations outside, in, and around Madison, he said. Among its findings, the study determined that the top of State Street outside the museum’s doors is the most-trafficked pedestrian corner in the entire state, validated the museum’s future program requirements, and more.

“The vision incorporates the needs of the current historical collection while making room for current and future veterans,” Kolakowski said. “It includes expandable and changeable exhibit space, plus expanded amenities that will add capacity to the museum’s ability to execute its mission.”

Amenities would include updated exhibits, a bigger gift shop, more archives space, and more classroom and event space, Kolakowski said. “We envision the museum as more than just galleries and artifacts — it is a living place to connect veterans’ stories with the people of Wisconsin and beyond. It is a place to help bridge the civil-military divide,” he said.

One of the reasons to prefer the current location for the Veteran Museum’s future was the synergies with the Historical Museum, Overture, Capitol, Children’s Museum, Central Library and State Street, he said.

Execution of the plan, including acquisition of the current museum building from its owners, will require partnerships and resources from the state Department of Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Wisconsin Veterans Museum Foundation, Kolakowski said.

Jeff Richgels can be reached at jrichgels@madison.com; Dean Mosiman can be reached at dmosiman@madison.com.