National Register of Historic Places

Wisconsin Pavilion

Neillsville, Clark County, Wisconsin
Listed
February 14, 2012
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
12000021

About this property

The Wisconsin Pavilion is a modernist-style building at 1201 East Division Street in Neillsville, Wisconsin, United States. Designed by John Steinmann, it was erected for the 1964 New York World's Fair at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, serving as the rotunda for the fair's Wisconsin exhibit. It was moved to Wisconsin in 1965, and has since functioned as a tourist center and as a broadcast studio for radio stations WCCN AM and FM since 1967. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The New York World's Fair Corporation invited the Wisconsin government to host an exhibit at the fair in 1961. Due to political disputes, the Wisconsin World's Fair Commission (WFC), which was tasked with organizing the state's world's fair exhibit, was not established until July 1963. After the WFC was unable to secure funding for the pavilion, two Wisconsin businessmen, Charles Sanders and Clark Prudhon, developed the structure with private funds. The pavilion opened behind schedule in 1964 and operated as a World's Fair exhibit for two years. Ivan Wilcox, a blacksmith from Boscobel, Wisconsin, bought the rotunda and shipped it back to Wisconsin. Howard Sturtz bought the building in 1966 and reassembled it in Neillsville; it was rededicated on July 13, 1967. The structure has been owned since the 1970s by the Grap family, who continue to operate the pavilion and radio stations in the 21st century. The pavilion is a twelve-sided structure with six canopies, with a metal roof supported by slanted concrete piers. It is topped with a glass spire with letters spelling out the state's name. The interior contains offices, broadcast studios, and a gift shop and tourist center. It is surrounded by a landscaped lawn with a sunken rock garden. Located next to it is a fiberglass model of a talking cow named Chatty Belle, which measures 16 feet (4.9 m) tall and 20 feet (6.1 m) long.

Location

1201 E. Division St.
Neillsville, Clark County, Wisconsin
44.55122, -90.57735

Categories

ARCHITECTURESOCIAL HISTORY
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Neillsville Standpipe
Industrial
0.2 mi
Foote, Charles, House
Industrial
0.6 mi
Tufts, William B. and Jennie, House
Industrial
0.9 mi
Dickinson, Decatur and Kate, House
Industrial
1 mi
Calway, Forrest D. and Marian, House
Industrial
1 mi

Questions about this property

When was Wisconsin Pavilion listed on the National Register?

Wisconsin Pavilion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 14, 2012.

What type of historic resource is Wisconsin Pavilion?

Wisconsin Pavilion is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Wisconsin Pavilion?

The period of significance for Wisconsin Pavilion is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Wisconsin Pavilion?

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