iven the years of hard work and frustration that went into Madison finally getting itself not only a convention center, but a world-class Frank Lloyd Wright facility at that, perhaps it's not surprising that a 1989 election in which a convention center referendum actually failed also provided the impetus for getting Monona Terrace built. For in that '89 election, in which a proposed Nolen Terrace Convention Center was defeated, Paul Soglin was once again elected mayor of Madison after spending a decade in private law practice. Soglin was known as a progressive mayor who could get things done. In his first run at the helm in Madison (1973-1979), Soglin had overseen the creation of the Lake Monona bike path, the State Street mall and the Civic Center. Though Soglin was known to back a downtown convention center, and was intrigued with the idea of a Frank Lloyd Wright Convention Center on the shore of Lake Monona, it was also clear the mayor would need all his skills to make it a reality. Since Wright first proposed a "Dream Civic Center" on the Monona shore in 1938, the city had embraced, rejected and bickered over the idea to the point where most people despaired of it ever becoming reality. Soglin, then, knew enough to proceed cautiously. According to George Austin, director of planning and development for the city of Madison, the mayor began "quiet discussions" with some prominent Madisonians with expertise in design and building, including Curt Hastings from J. H. Findorff and Son in Madison, and Marshall Erdman, who headed a Madison-based design/building firm and who had known and worked with Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1950s. Without any publicity, this group dusted off Wright's old plan, which he had revised from its 1938 conception. They contacted Anthony Puttnam, a Wright apprentice and the lead architect at Taliesin Architects. The central question kicked around was: Was this still feasible? Could it work?