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Wright in Racine
Stewards of Wright's Work - A look at the bill
Posted by:
mhertzberg on
April 21, 2011 at
11:31PM CST
Text and photos (c) Mark Hertzberg
It is impolite to look at the check if you are someone’s dinner guest. If you are a guest in a Frank Lloyd Wright building, it is equally impolite to ask how much the current steward of the building has spent maintaining it. Readers of Racine’s Journal Times saw the tab in Thursday morning’s edition in a full page ad signed by "Fisk," as he is known in Racine (Dr. Fisk Johnson, whose grandfather, H.F. Johnson Jr., first hired Wright in 1936, is chairman and CEO of SC Johnson). The ad was set in the context of a dialogue with the community about two issues affecting the company that have been grist for news stories in the paper and on news blogs.I work at the newspaper, and generally have a good idea what to expect when I open the paper at home every morning. Not today. The ad department and news departments are separate -as they should be - and so this caught me by surprise. One of the issues raised is whether or not the company pays its fair share of taxes in the community because of a much-publicized $175,000 tax exemption that SCJ received for the Wright buildings and the new Fortaleza Hall. Fisk wrote that the tax exemption "doesn't even come close to offsetting the over $8 million that we have spent in the last few years just on preserving and maintaining the Wright buildings to endure as he designed them and as historical landmarks. Or, the additional nearly $15 million we plan to spend in the next few years." I have had the privilege of great access to these buildings and to the company archives. If I had read these figures during my research (and I have read many memos detailing the historic costs of these buildings) or been told the figures in conversation, I would have kept them confidential. Today they were published for all to see. It has been generally assumed that the company and family spare no expense to preserve these buildings because they recognize their importance on several levels beyond the obvious observation that one does not commission a great sculpture, painting or building if one does not intend to conserve it. Now we know to what extent. The figures presumably do not include SCJ's support of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation or the costs of helping sponsor the current Wright exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum. The Johnson company and family have been exemplary stewards of the Administration Building (1936) and the Research Tower (1943), as well as of Wingspread (1937), built as H.F.‘s home. Below are photos of some restoration work in the last 15 years: The company is almost finished with a restoration of the roof and skylights of the Administration Building.
These photos were taken last summer during the Administration Building project. The bottom photo is of a painter refinishing one of the iconic dendriform columns at the ceiling of the Great Workroom.
Wingspread was closed in 1996-1997 while the roof was repaired and restored: Wingspread's Great Hall was wrapped in what was called a "cocoon." 
Sam Johnson, second from right, ceremonially helps place a new roof joist. Tuckpointing the Tower in 2001, 20 years after it closed.
These buildings affect the people who work in them. The late Sam Johnson, H.F.'s son and Fisk's father, told me, “I’ve hired thousands of people. I would take them on a tour, and see what’s going on in their mind. There’s kind of a transformation going on. ‘If they have enough guts to build a building like this, which symbolizes the best in contemporary architecture, it must be a company worth working for.’” And, when we were talking about the Research Tower, he said, “You get the right people in the right kind of environment. Raid, Pledge, and Edge had come along. They are still our largest brands. They got hatched up when the Tower was there. Who’s to say it wasn’t the Wright influence? It represented my father’s commitment to research and design as the core of our company, and symbolism is important.” Wingspread has been home to the Johnson Foundation since 1959. The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, National Public Radio, the National Endowment of the Arts, and the International Court of Justice all grew out of Johnson Foundation Wingspread conferences. Finally, SC Johnson recognizes Wright’s importance to the community. Up to 5,000 people tour the Administration Building every year. Racine’s convention and visitors’ bureau estimates that Wright tourism is worth $750,000 to the community. Much of the maintenance and repair work goes to area contractors, so there is a ripple effect on the local economy from that, as well.Now we know the answer to the question no one dared ask our hosts at 1525 Howe St. Links: Previous article about the Administration Building work:http://my.journaltimes.com/post/wright-in-racine/scj_roof_restoration.html
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