Yesterday in La Crosse
Mayor Zielke was here to stay, but Man-Lay went away, 50 years ago
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The year 1975 was a time for change in La Crosse. Lots of old buildings along the riverfront were being torn down in the 1970s, with the goal of improving that section of downtown, partly through a project called Harborview. La Crosse elected a new mayor in the spring of ’75, who stayed in office for two decades. City alderman Patrick Zielke won a close race for mayor on April Fools’ Day, defeating two-term incumbent Peter Gilbertson by about 600 votes. Zielke would become the longest-serving mayor ever in La Crosse, staying in office for 22 years until his retirement. Taking Zielke’s former council seat would be Helen Kelly, who became only the second woman to serve on La Crosse’s city council.
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As mayor, Pat Zielke led the effort to get the Harborview project built, including the La Crosse Center, the Radisson Hotel, and the Harborview Plaza building which used to house the Heileman brewery offices. Late in 1975, downtown La Crosse welcomed a McDonald’s restaurant at 4th and Main, where the sunken Man-Lay gardens had been developed after a hotel fire. McDonald’s remained at that corner building for 20 years. It’s now the home of Howes Diamond Jewelers.
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Seventy-five was a banner year for Sparta native Deke Slayton, who was chosen in the 50’s as one of the original Mercury astronauts, but didn’t get to fly in space because of a heart condition. Slayton was finally cleared to go into earth orbit, and in the summer of ’75 he was on the crew of an joint American-Soviet space mission. About two dozen of Slayton’s relatives went to Cape Canaveral for the lift-off, and several Sparta area businesses ran advertisements in the La Crosse Tribune to wish him luck. Deke’s flight happened 50 years ago, 1975, yesterday in La Crosse.
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