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Wright in Racine
Addition to the Unitarian Meeting House
Posted by:
mhertzberg on
December 1, 2008 at
5:41PM CST
Text and photos (c) Mark Hertzberg unless otherwise noted In 1947-1951, the 100 members of the First Unitarian Society of Madison worked furiously to help build the new church that Frank Lloyd Wright had designed for them. Membership had grown enough by 1963 that Jack Howe was commissioned to build a classroom addition. Another addition, the “Lower Meeting House,” was built in the early 1990s. The congregation now numbers about 1500, and has again outgrown the landmark Wright building as well as the additions. It is the largest Unitarian Universalist congregation in the United States and, perhaps, in the world, according to Tom Garver, a member of the church’s Building and Preservation Committees. The congregation realized the need for not only a larger auditorium, but also more classroom and office space, in 1998. Architects were interviewed in 2004. Controversy swirled not only through the congregation, but also through the world of Wright, as solutions, including a new building at another site, were debated. The solution, an addition that gracefully circles out of the south end of the original building, opened this fall. The new $9 million building was designed by The Kubala Washatko Architects of Cedarburg, Wisconsin. The building is “green,” and has earned LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, certification.
 (c) Craig Wilson - From a Kite photography, used with permission
The two buildings meet where the Lower Meeting House once stood. The new auditorium or sanctuary is opposite the famous hall that Wright placed under a dramatic soaring copper roof 60 years before. A glass connecting hallway leads from the new auditorium to Wright’s limestone building. “There is no change in profile to make the connection,” Garver points out. The project included needed repairs to the original building, such as rewiring lights, painting, and plastering. The original building had seven tiny -they were only 10 feet wide- classrooms in the loggia, when it opened in 1951. They were remodeled into offices, a library, religious education office, and a minister’s office when the 1963 religious education center addition was built. They have now been remodeled again, into one large office, four smaller offices, and a small conference rooms. The loggia now looks much as it did in 1951. This slide show has photos of the addition, the remodeled loggia, and a unique use of the original auditorium - a blood drive the day I visited the church. A blue sky would have made for better photos, alas. The crane visible in some photos is from an unrelated construction project at the nearby University Hospitals campus. Garver is pleased with the new addition, “It is a very constrained site, but that worked to our advantage because it had a gentle slope to the south. The new auditorium...is set well below grade, well below the entrance level. The curve allows for a parking lot and decent distance between the buildings. “It will take a few years, after the roof is planted and seeded, which will soften the edges of the roof. A berm by the parking lot is planted. Eventually plants and shrubs will soften the horizon line. It will make this building become ever more discreet.” Links: Craig Wilson photography (they hyperlink may not work, you may have to type the URL in yourself):
First Unitarian Society of Madison new building website: http://www.fusmadison.com/green/intro.shtm
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