A contentious plan to renovate the 100 block of State Street has been put on hold as its developers asked a city commission to remove the proposal from its agenda.
The 100 Block Foundation and its founders, W. Jerome Frautschi and Pleasant Rowland, requested that the Landmarks Commission remove the proposal from the meeting’s agenda for Monday, according to Madison City Planner Bill Fruhling.
The plan, which would include the demolition of the Stark building on the corner of Mifflin and Fairchild Streets and the landmark Schubert building for the creation of an open garden, has been the topic of much contentious debate in several city meetings over the last few months.
Block 100 Foundation Project Manager George Austin said the future of the plan has not yet been decided.
“They have requested that the item be removed from the agenda to allow the foundation to decide whether or not it should move the project ahead,” Austin said.
Last month, the Block 100 Foundation sent a letter to the Plan Commission outlining its plans to abandon the proposal if the committee denied the implementation of the garden, which would require the demolition or removal of the landmark Schubert building.
The garden would also require the demolition of the Stark and Fairchild building, which does not have landmark status but has been considered to be historically significant by several commissions in their discussion of the Block 100 Foundation’s proposal.
Mayor Paul Soglin said the request came as no surprise after the foundation made clear its plans to drop the proposal if the garden aspect was opposed.
“We had anticipated this would probably happen since we’ve been told that the developer would very likely back off at this time if the proposal was not approved,” Soglin said.
Soglin said the foundation will spend a few months reconsidering its plan and whether the proposal will continue.
Alternative plans, like those suggested by Landmarks Commission Chair Stuart Levitan and Madison Trust for Historic Preservation, will not be considered until the Block 100 Foundation decides whether to go on with its proposal, Soglin added.
