Posted by madcityradio.com on December 09, 2008 at 13:39:52:
Carroll Metzner loved Madison
An editorial from the Capital Times — 12/09/2008 5:33 am
Older Madisonians will recall the days when The Capital Times and Carroll Metzner went at it tooth and nail.
The Capital Times liked Frank Lloyd Wright and public projects like the proposed Monona Terrace Convention Center.
Metzner had little taste for Wright and less for the convention center.
From the 1930s, when the Madison lawyer served briefly on the City Council and then as a state legislator, Metzner erected barriers to the construction of Monona Terrace.
And we fought to take them down.
In the end, we succeeded, and Monona Terrace is, to the view of our editors and we think most Madisonians, a public jewel on an urban lakefront that might otherwise have been turned to private purposes.
But Metzner contributed to the process of getting us to our present place, forcing debates and compromises that are the stuff of democracy in a city that has a reputation for deliberation when it comes to major projects.
Long before he died Saturday, at age 89, we had made our peace with Metzner. In fact, we found ourselves agreeing with him now and again with regard to some downtown development issues.
An able attorney and a deeply committed Madisonian, Carroll Metzner was our steady sparring partner for many decades. He knew we loved Madison. We knew he loved Madison. Now that he is gone, we'll miss him.