Hard times for a long-time hotel, 37 years ago

In December of 1980, the State Bank of La Crosse was foreclosing on its 4th Street neighbor, the Hotel Stoddard.  The Stoddard had been in business for 76 years as a luxury hotel, and had a reputation as the fanciest hotel downtown until that fall, when the Radisson opened near the river.  A $2 million plan to convert the Stoddard into housing for the elderly stalled.  The following summer, property from the Stoddard was auctioned off, and it was demolished in 1982.  
 
The Party House off Highway 35 was still in business in late 1980, and a waitress at the restaurant had some good luck on a popular TV game show.  Twenty-two-year-old Gale Yarber won nine thousand dollars, a trip to Miami and a Caribbean cruise on “Hollywood Squares.”  It was still the original version of “Squares” with Peter Marshall and Paul Lynde, but the show had moved from Hollywood to the Riviera resort in Las Vegas.
 
In 1980, the Packers had gone 8 years since their last playoff appearance.  The Wisconsin Badgers football team hadn’t been to a bowl game in 18 years.  But both teams would return to post-season play by the end of 1982.  In high school basketball, La Crosse Logan beat Sparta 50-to-30, with senior Ron Kind getting 14 points for the Rangers…37 years ago, 1980, yesterday in La Crosse.