Disagreement on what to put in Harborview…41 years ago

In 1976, La Crosse Mayor Pat Zielke was calling for the disbanding of the Redevelopment Authority, saying that the idea had been suggested by Washington, which the feds denied.  City leaders couldn’t agree on what should be built on the vacant Harborview land between Front and 2nd Streets.  The city council had turned down Zielke’s idea for a $9 million convention center.

A new Girls’ Club for La Crosse had a board of directors, but no place to meet.  Organizers were looking for sites primarily on the north side of town.  A study showed that the north side had about 1500 girls who were in the age range for such a club.

Labor leader Jimmy Hoffa had been missing for exactly one year.  Investigators assumed that Hoffa had been murdered after having lunch at a restaurant near Detroit, by somebody who apparently didn’t want him to regain his old position as head of the Teamsters Union.

Number 1 songs on the radio in the summer of 1976 included “Silly Love Songs,” “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” and “Afternoon Delight.”  Forty-one years ago, yesterday in La Crosse.