What could replace the Sawyer auditorium, 33 years ago?

In 1984, local developer Dick Barbour had a proposal to replace the former Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium with a high-rise building, which could contain a hotel and a 250-space parking ramp.  There would be office space for La Crosse County and Western Tech.  The city council agreed to sell the auditorium to Barbour for half-a-million dollars.  The Sawyer eventually was torn down, and replaced by what is now the county health department and juvenile detention building.

There was also talk of a transportation center downtown, which would be built north of La Crosse City Hall.  The proposed transit center could house a taxi service and a restaurant.  La Crosse didn’t actually get a transit center until the Grand River Station on 3rd Street opened in 2010.

“When Doves Cry” by Prince was the #1 song of 1984, according to Billboard magazine.  Following that song atop the year-end charts were “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” by Tina Turner…the Paul McCartney/Michael Jackson duet “Say Say Say”…and the theme to “Footloose.”  Thirty-three years ago, 1984, Yesterday in La Crosse.