How about making the old courthouse a museum…the idea 55 years ago

In March of 1964, La Crosse County was preparing to build a new courthouse on 4th Street, to replace the old one which had been around for about 60 years. The suggestion to turn the domed courthouse into a local museum didn’t get very far. The building, on what is now known as Belle Square, was sold to Montgomery Ward, and was demolished about a year later.

A swimming pool plan for the south side of La Crosse was in the works. The board of public works said no to a design for what became the Erickson Pool, because bids were about $70,000 over budget.

Movies about political intrigue were playing in La Crosse that spring. One of the films was ‘Seven Days in May,’ about an attempted military takeover of the U.S. government. Another was Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Dr. Strangelove,’ with Peter Sellers playing three roles in a satire about nuclear war. The Rivoli Theater advertised a giant kiddies show for a Saturday and Sunday in March, shortly before Easter. An ad said someone attending would win ‘a real live puppy’…in 1964, yesterday in La Crosse.