Pondering the future of the Sawyer Auditorium, 36 years ago

In 1982, the Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium had gone mostly unused for two years, after the opening of the La Crosse Center. Mayor Pat Zielke had some ideas for putting it to good use. Developers Paul and James Hemker suggested putting a hotel, an ice arena, an athletic club, and an office tower on the site. The idea didn’t fly. La Crosse County finally acquired the Sawyer, and tore it down to replace it with the current juvenile center.

Walt’s Restaurant on S. 3rd Street, near the giant 6-pack, was closing. It had been known as Walt’s for about 60 years, named after Walt Niggli. Heileman announced plans to remodel the building into a gift shop, theaterm and a German restaurant which was named “Gottlieb’s,” and later re-named Walt’s.

This week in ’82, the Milwaukee Brewers were playing in their first…and so far, ONLY World Series. Milwaukee won the first game against the St. Louis Cardinals, then lost two straight. After 5 games, the Brewers led, and needed one more win for the championship…which they didn’t get. Milwaukee was in the Series in 1982, yesterday in La Crosse.