MADISON, Wis.–A historic building here named for Edward Filene that served as the first official headquarters for CUNA in Madison as well as home to CUNA Mutual for a while has become the subject of a dispute here with a developer making plans to demolish the building.
Filene House has been nominated as a city landmark, which could complicate plans for demolishing the building as part of a redevelopment project, according to the Wisconsin State-Journal.
The building was also home to the World Council of Credit Unions after it began in 1981, before it eventually moved to the campus in Madison that CUNA Mutual built and moved into in 1960, to be followed later by CUNA. Both CUNA and Filene have once again moved to or are in the process of moving to new space in Madison.
According to the Wisconsin State Journal, as part of a large housing project, Vermilion Development of Chicago has proposed razing the utilitarian, two-story building at 1617 Sherman Ave., the first permanent location of the Credit Union National Association. The building was dedicated by Truman in a speech that placed the credit union movement as a key component of the administration's foreign policy.
The latest concepts show nearly 400 units in five buildings, including two five-story, multifamily structures, three sets of two-story townhouses and parking on the 8.2-acre site, the State Journal added.
Landmark Nomination Made
But the publication reported that resident John Rolling, who lived next to the building in the 1970s, who holds a doctorate in history from UW-Madison and who spent a career in real estate appraisal, has submitted a 33-page landmark nomination for the property that's supported by the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation.
"Cities always change, we know that," Rolling told the State Journal. "This is the kind of thing we need to keep as our legacy."
But the proposed landmark nomination would be "disruptive" to the redevelopment of the site, Vermilion managing director Darrin Jolas told the publication.
The City Council, which could decide on a designation as soon as Feb. 7.
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