Madison is building a great city
With projects like the Goodman Pool, Monona Terrace and Overture, we are fast losing our reputation for not being able to put two bricks together. Part of Madison’s answer to a national recession should be a local program to invest in our infrastructure along the lines of the Imagine Madison program I unveiled in this speech three years ago.
We should: advance our efforts to rebuild our streets (remember those potholes); to build Central Park as so tenaciously advocated for by my predecessor and good friend Joe Sensenbrenner, in a staged process that is achievable; to build a new Central Library;  Villager Mall under a name that better represents its meaning to the community (perhaps Renaissance Center); to build a new downtown hotel so that Monona Terrace can be even more successful; to build a year round Public Market to bolster our leadership in the local foods movement; to save and develop the Garver Feed Mill as a complement to Olbrich Gardens; to partner with the Madison Mallards baseball team to renovate and improve the stadium at Warner Park; to build a new and better Children’s Museum; to potentially build a second municipal pool in the years to come; and more.
And to honor the great gift that Jerry Frautschi and Pleasant Rowland gave us in the  Overture Center we should start exploring alternative ways to meet the long-term capital needs of this world-class facility. Under the great leadership of Tom Carto, Overture is meeting its promise of being a true community institution serving the entire region. Or challenges are long-term, so we have time to address them thoughtfully, inclusively and carefully. But we need to start now.
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