Inside the Bar
Growth in Bar Services, Membership Precede Move to New Facility
By Stephen L. Smay
The Bar Center will close its office on Thursday and Friday, Aug.
5-6, for the first time in more than 17 years. That is when the staff
will move from the current downtown building to the new building at the
American Center near the intersection of Highway 151 and Interstates
90/94 on Madison's northeast side. We will plan to be back in business
by the next week.
The last time the Bar Center was closed on a business day was in late
spring 1982 when we were undergoing asbestos removal in connection with
renovating and expanding the current Wilson Street building. That
building has served the Bar for more than 40 years. Indeed, it almost
reached the stated objective of the 1981 leadership of providing a home
that would last until the year 2000.
As we approach 2000,
the State Bar looks much different than it did in 1981. In 1981 we
produced fewer than half the number of seminars we present today. In
1981 we had no CLE book program; today we offer more than 50 titles in
many fields of law. In 1981 the Lawyer Referral and Information Service
was in its infancy; last year LRIS received more than 50,000 calls from
Wisconsin citizens, referring on average one in six callers to LRIS
panel attorneys. In 1981 there was no Newsletter, and we had
only recently started to publish the Wisconsin Lawyer (then
called the Wisconsin Bar Bulletin) monthly. No one had heard of
the Internet, and there was no WisBar Internet site, e-commerce, or
electronic publishing, which today occupy several staff members. We had
a modest government relations program and no organized assistance for
local bar associations. There were far fewer sections, committees, and
divisions. We had 12,496 members in 1981 compared to 19,875 members
today. Interestingly, more than half of our current members had not yet
been admitted to practice law in 1981.
The planners of 1981 foresaw some of these changes and knew there
would be unforeseen challenges and opportunities. Speaking only for
myself, however, the magnitude of change has been greater than I would
have predicted 18 years ago.
Producing more services and products for more members required much
staff and volunteer involvement. That involvement required space in the
Bar Center. Conference rooms were converted to office space, and the
building gradually became almost exclusively an office facility with
little opportunity for member meetings. Beginning in 1990 some staff
operations such as printing and mailing were moved out of the Wilson
Street building.
Many people have shared their time, talent, and money to make the new
building a reality. Over the past year Nathan Fishbach from Milwaukee
has distinguished himself as chairperson of the capital campaign to
which there have been 615 pledges, representing 8,208 members and
friends who have contributed more than $1.2 million. Thanks to Nathan
and to everyone who contributed. Almost the entire construction project
has been completed under Susan Steingass's watch as president. She
provided leadership here as well as in many other areas of Bar
activity.
| Moving vans will relocate Bar operations to the new Bar
Center on Aug. 5. Staff hope to be back in business on the following
Monday, Aug. 9. |
In my eyes, the new building will be associated with two former Bar
presidents who provided the vision and implementation expertise. The
original vision came from Steve Sorenson, who persisted over several
years in his frequently stated belief that we needed a new home if we
were to remain an active, service-oriented organization. He prodded us
to develop the will necessary for such an important project.
The building site was purchased and ground was broken during his year
as president. Former President Gerald O'Brien chaired the Facilities
Committee. Jerry worked tirelessly to choose a building site, select a
design-build team, and oversee the construction process to a successful
conclusion. The total project cost was within the budget and very close
to the initial projections of nearly five years ago.
Please visit us in your new Bar Center. All of our operations will be
back under one roof with adequate space for staff and room for some
growth. There will be a room for CLE seminars and other large meetings
of up to 180 people. In addition, we will have four conference rooms and
a technology center, about which I will have more to say in a later
column. Perhaps most importantly, there will be more than 200 free
parking spaces and easy access to the Interstate system.
We will be open for business at 5302 Eastpark Boulevard on Monday,
Aug. 9. Although our address will change, our phone numbers will remain
the same. The grand opening ceremony will be Friday afternoon, Sept.
17.
We look forward to seeing you!
Wisconsin Lawyer
