| Additional Information: | Additional Information 2024:
Architecture:
The Gay Building is a nine-story commercial building located on Madison’s Capitol Square commercial district. It has a rectangular plan with the narrower elevations facing Carroll Street and the rear of the building. The building has a concrete structural frame clad in buff-colored bricks on all elevations. The architectural details of the building are on the main elevation, including vertical piers with simple capitals, spandrals, decorative crests, a ninth story metal cornice with dentils, and decorative sandstone on the first story. The main elevation also has a modern storefront of glass and metal and wood veneer. Openings on the upper floors are regular and are filled with single-light replacement sashes that are paired at the center of the elevation.
The interior of the building has a layout of old retail, now office, space on the first floor and a lobby. Upper floors have office suites in a variety of configurations. The first floor lobby has non-historic tile floors and walls with non-historic wood wainscoting. The office space on the first floor has modern finishes, as do the offices in the upper floors. These include dry wall, carpeting, acoustical tile ceilings, and painted wood trim.
History:
Leonard Gay, a prominent real estate developer in Madison proposed an eight-story building for the Capital Square in 1911. It would be twice as high as anything constructed on the square and, in effect, “Madison’s first skyscraper.” The building immediately caused controversy because John Nolan’s city plan had just been completed and called for only lower height buildings being allowed around the square in deference to the new State Capitol Building being constructed at the time. Pressing forward, Gay hired architects Law and Law, near the beginning of their notable practice, to design the building and had them add an additional story. The building was completed between 1913 and early 1915. Many saw it as an economic boom for Madison, while others criticized its “excessive” height. This dissatisfaction with the height of the building caused a period of discussion and legislation about building heights around the capitol building.
The building became a successful office block for real estate companies, doctors, and
Dentists. The building remained a successful office building throughout the twentieth century to the present time.
Carol Cartwright, 2024
This building was Madison's first "skyscraper." In 1907, Leonard platted the Wingra subdivision, an area containing 400 lots within the original Marston farm. A portion of this subdivision became a part of Forest Hill Cemetery, but currently serves as the Glenway Golf Course.
A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation-Public History. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Exploring the Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood brochure, 1999.
Levitan, Stuart D. Madison: The Illustrated Sesquicentennial History, Volume 1, 1856-1931. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2006, p. 189. |
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