LA CROSSE HISTORY

I often think about the old WISCONSIN THEATER when I walk through the parking lot, next to the Cathedral, where it used to stand.

I had read the history of the theater and knew it burned down but I had always thought the fire was long before I was born.  I was surprised  to discover, however, that the fire was in 1952.

There's a very rare photo of the building in the LA CROSSE TRIBUNE and I have no memory of ever seeing it, although, I must have. I remember Rita, Carl and I taking the bus downtown when we came to La Crosse on summer vacation.

I remember the Hollywood, Rivoli and 5th Ave. theaters and the theater that stood near where the West Avenue Walgreen's is now but I draw a blank on the Wisconsin, which surprises me.  It would have been hard to miss with its huge marquee, the biggest in the state, outside of Milwaukee, at the time.  It would have gone down in flames just two years before we moved to West Salem.