Monday, October 17, 2016

Is five Tommy G. Thompson monuments in WI enough?

I knew we had the Tommy G. Thompson Commerce WHEDA Center in downtown Madison - - where once was housed the state's Department of Commerce which Scott Walker remade into the scandal-plagued and mission-failing Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

That's just the biggest and most visible building named for former four-term GOP Governor - - 
- - but is by no means the sole structure or complex bearing his name, as there is also:

*  The Tommy G. Thompson Youth Center on the Wisconsin State Fair Park grounds.

*  And the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership on the UW-Madison campus.

*  And the Governor Tommy G. Thompson Fish Hatchery, operated by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Governor Tommy Thompson hatchery
*  And Governor Thompson State Park, featured today in a DNR list of out-of-the-way gems
Governor Thompson State Park, Crivitz, Marinette County. Launch a boat on the Caldron Falls Reservoir for a selfie with a view of the changing leaves from the water, or hike the more than 16 miles of trails for various backdrops, from the rock outcroppings scattered throughout the park to stretches of prairie with blooming purple and pink aster in the fall.
Is five enough?

Historical note: Thompson had been a big booster of Amtrak - - before he fell into line with Scott Walker and opposed Amtrak extension in Wisconsin he'd long championed - - and served as Amtrak's Board President which earned him a named locomotive.

Photos here, though apparently the nameplate has been removed in routine upgrading.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just be grateful we do not have 5 Choke-A-Palooza Criminal Injustice David Prosser monuments (yet). When Walker moves on, each and every community in Wisconsin will have a monument to him, his mug will replace the Bob Lafollette but in our Capitol, and forever-more, "Forward" will mean we do what the Koch brothers demand.

And across the Badger State, the media will trumpet in unison that all is good and how it should be.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget the Tommy Thompson gym at Messmer High School, so named thanks to school choice.