From the very beginning, the land seemed destined to be used for a good purpose. The property on which the Monroe Senior center rests was originally a gift and so, perhaps that made it special from the very outset.
In the late 1830’s five men, Jacob Payne, Jarvis Ratten, Jacob Lybrand, Jacob Andrike and William Russell owned the nucleus of the land that would become the village of Monroe. In 1839, a controversy arose over the choice of the Green County seat. Payne, Lybrand and Russell donated 120 acres to Green County to be used as a county seat and be named Monroe. Jacob Andrick however, wanted his land, known as New Mexico, to be the county seat. Payne discovered that Andrick had neglected to record his plat with the land office in Mineral Point and rushed off on horseback to record his plate with the land office. The matter was challenged however and finally was settled by referendum. As a result of this vote, Monroe became the county seat of Green County.
Payne, Lybrand and Russell each had donated forty acres to the town of Monroe. Payne’s was the eastern third; Lybrand’s was the center portion or Public Square. The portion of most interest to this story was Russell’s. When he donated the land, Russell stipulated that his forty acres in part should provide for school and seminary needs for the people of Monroe. He wanted a seminary of learning constructed there.
For some unknown reason, Russell’s desires were ignored at first and in 1844; the Town Cemetery was established on the site now occupied by the Monroe Senior Center. Fourteen years later, in 1858, Monroe was incorporated into a village and the following year, the cemetery was sold to Monroe for the sum of one dollar. The land continued to serve as a cemetery until 1909 when Russell’s dreams for the land finally came to fruition.
In 1909, the county was in need of a site on which to construct a County Teacher’s College. The city of Monroe provided the site and donated the block of land between 9th and 10th Streets and 11th and 12th Avenues for a training school for teachers. It was viewed as a transaction that would benefit both residents of Monroe and Green County. It was also clear, and this would become important in later years, that the property should be returned to Monroe for public use.
One June 7, 1910, Green County accepted the land from Monroe and paid the sum of one dollar. The bodies buried in the cemetery were exhumed and reburied in Greenwood Cemetery. A decade later, in 1920, the county built the Green County Normal School on that site. It was a teacher’s college that supplied certificated graduates from its two-year course. The normal school operated until 1997 when this system for educating teachers was phased out by the State of Wisconsin.
The county still had the need for the former normal school property however. In the fall of 1967, the facility was reopened as a special education school for mentally disadvantaged children. The school continued to operate in this capacity until 1978.
So far we’ve traced the events that developed over 139 years directly affecting the land and the red brick building standing on it.
From the 1800’s to the 1900’s we saw society industrialize and commercialize to a greater and greater degree leaving fewer and fewer people in agriculture. Families moved to cities as the inventions of the Industrial Age made things easier on the farm and less manpower demanding. By the 1960’s we experienced the mobilization of our families. What was once a unit of aunts, uncles, grandparents, children and grandchildren in one location split like the atom as people moved from their hometowns in search of better jobs and cities that offered more fulfilling and stimulating ways to fill one’s leisure time. Our elderly no longer had the extended family to keep them busy. Families were now more spread out and absent from the nest. Through the advancement of medicine senior citizens were now happily living longer.
To cope with these changes, they looked for outlets beyond the family. As early as 1954, Monroe had a Golden Age club. Others like Mary Wuthrich, saw the need for more social outlets for the elderly. In 1969 she willed $22,000.00 to the City of Monroe to be used for senior citizens. At this time, Monroe lacked a senior citizen’s center so the interest earned on the Wuthrich funds was used for elderly persons living at Churchill Woods housing facility.
This was the beginning. The winds of awareness were blowing in several directions by the mid 1970’s. In 1976, Mayor cliff Reasa expressed his concern to the City Council that expanded programs were needed for senior citizens.
The formulation of a senior Citizen’s center came under the domain of the Park and Recreation Department. In 1976 the offer was made by the Parks and Recreation Director to offer local senior citizens the use of the Community room in City Hall.
In 1977 the city had $165,000 in federal funds left over from an Urban Renewal project (Funds were left following the tornado in 1965). Mayor Reasa began to push for a Senior Center. The guidelines set for the use of these federal funds did allow the money to be used to establish a Senior Center. On March 15, 1977 Mayor Reasa announced his priorities for the year to the City Council. These priorities included a new Northeast park, new outdoor swimming pool and bath house, a Wayside Park and Park Garage, a couple of Tot Lots and a Senior Center.
In bits and pieces, equipment for the center grew. In July, pool cues and pool tables were donated to the Community Center through state funding. In November, Mayor Reasa again urged the council to develop a Senior Center. Eight months would pass. In September of 1978, Mayor Reasa suggested the Park Department explore the use of the building, which is now carpet village, or the Monroe Arts and activities building, or build a new center or purchase the Green County Special Education School.
It was decided the special Education School would serve well as a senior citizen’s center and the City of Monroe offered the county a bid of $62,400.00, the amount the building had been appraised
However, the city’s dream for a senior citizen center was threatened by a private investor who offered the county $11,000.00 more for the property to construct low cost housing for the elderly.
Mayor Reasa appealed to the County Board of Supervisors to honor the spirit in which the property had exchanged hands first from the village of Monroe and to the County in 1859. Mayor Reasa’s appeal to the County Board worked. A sharply divided Green County Board of Supervisors voted 15-13 in favor of the City’s bid of $62,400.00. Those involved in the senior center were overjoyed at the county board’s decision. On December 29,1978, the building changed hands.
It was now time to put the old special education building in shape. State inspectors toured the facility in December of 1979 and told the City what needed to be done to bring the building up to state codes. HUD money was used to install the elevator for $85,000.00 and to close off the stairway with fireproof doors.
The renovations continued using only federal money and local donations. Tables, chairs, a steam table, a kitchen range, a dishwasher, dishes and silverware were all purchased in January of 1980 with federal matching funds. By May, the elevator was completed. The hardwood floors were sanded and refinished, and rooms were painted.
Many donations were received for the center including funds for kitchen cabinets from First Federal savings and Loan, money from Anchor Savings and Loan for carpet, coffee pots from the Kiwanis Club and a flagpole from the VFW. Other donations included playground equipment from the Optimists club.
In February of 1981, the refurbishing was completed and the doors of the Senior Center were opened. By 1982 the Monroe Senior Center had developed strong roots in the community. Over the years the senior Center has continued its growth and development. In 1996 the facility volunteers worked very hard to add a new lobby addition to the from of the facility. Community businesses and volunteers donated over $150,000,00 for the project.
Today the Senior Center serves between 1500 and 1600 seniors in Monroe and the surrounding area. The senior Center newsletter is mailed out to over 1000 people in our community. The building formerly know as the Green County Normal School still stands as a testament to the determination and commitment of the residents of the City of Monroe.
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