Excerpts from nywf64.com:
THE PAVILION
- No taxpayers' money used for construction.
- The most popular restaurant at the Fair, serving up to 15,000 Wisconsin beef steak dinners daily.
- Operation and maintenance cost of $50,000 appropriated by the Legislature in 1965 (217-S; Senate - Ayes 20, No's 10; 2 paired; Assembly - Ayes 80, No's 16)
Cost Each Taxpayer 1 1/2c per visitor.
When the World's Fair Participation Corporation was dissolved on December 20, 1965
$7,041.42 of the above amount was returned to the state. ...
HOW MANY PEOPLE?
According to the New York Times, 10/19/65
13,000,000 people
visited the Wisconsin Pavilion during the two seasons of the Fair. This pus us in 8th place among all exhibits and 3rd among state pavilions.
TAXPAYERS' MONEY SPENT ON OTHER EXHIBITS
New York State. . . . . . . . . . . .11 1/2 million dollars Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1/2 million dollars Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1/2 million dollars New England States . . . . . . . . . . . .5 million dollars Among the states participating were Texas, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Montana, Minnesota and Illinois
No other state participating spent less than 500,000 dollars except Wisconsin.
GENERAL COMMENTS & CONCLUSIONS
We did not include enough dairy products. Our image elsewhere is a cornucopia of butter, milk, cream, cheese and ice cream. People are interested in good food, and we should take this into account and emphasize our abundance in any future displays of this nature.
The pavilion itself was brought back to Wisconsin where it has served as home to WCCN radio for the past 40 years. And yes, they sell cheese there too!
Maybe, just maybe, it was popular, too, for featuring Wisconsin's beer industry.
Posted by: Woody | 06/04/2007 at 09:17 AM