MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Historical Society broke ground Wednesday on its new museum building on the Capitol square.
The Wisconsin History Center will be a 100,000-square-foot museum and educational space with both permanent and traveling exhibitions, as well as a café and event space. It will replace the Wisconsin Historical Museum building that was razed last year. That building was once a hardware store and faced a host of issues including limited space and poor infrastructure.
“This is truly a momentous day, not only for the Wisconsin Historical Society, but also our state,” Wisconsin Historical Society Director Christian Øverland said.
The groundbreaking comes after more than two decades of talk from state lawmakers and governors on both sides of the aisle about the need for a new museum building.
“I’ve been with it for a long time, and to watch this now happen is just fantastic,” former Gov. Jim Doyle said. “A lot of incredibly generous people in Wisconsin that have stepped up to support it. And I’m really proud the state government has done this as well — both parties.”
Watch: Wisconsin Historical Society breaks ground on new state history museum
Doyle, a Democrat, teamed up with former Gov. Tommy Thompson, a Republican, to lead fundraising efforts for the new museum. The state will pick $112 million of the more-than $160 million price tag. The rest of the funds will come from private donors. As of January, the Wisconsin Historical Foundation had raised $53.9 million of its $66.5 million goal for the project.
“Today is an important day. It’s bipartisan, it’s exciting,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, the state’s top Republican, said at the groundbreaking.
The historical society expects construction to be completed by 2027.
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