City officials have unveiled redesigns for the plazas at the top of State Street that call for tables, planters and programming in order to draw more people to the area and address concerns about public safety.

It’s an example of ongoing city investments in placemaking, a process meant to bring pedestrian traffic to underused areas and create shared, safe spaces.

“This is really the most visible, I would argue, crossroads in the entire state of Wisconsin, the area that connects our state Capitol building to our flagship university,” Ald. Mike Verveer said at a June 23 public meeting held by city planning staff. “Whether it's true or not, I've heard for years that it has more pedestrian traffic at the top of State Street than anywhere else in Wisconsin.”

“We really have to get this right, is the bottom line,” Verveer added.

The top of State Street has been an area of concern for more than a decade. Many homeless residents hang out there during the day and some sleep overnight. Criminal behavior — often from people who aren’t homeless — has prompted city action in the past. Former Mayor Paul Soglin in 2015 removed seating stones designed by Wisconsin artist Jill Sebastian from the area closer to West Mifflin Street. The stones were used as a seat by many people there; their removal was met with dismay by Madison’s homeless community. 

Soglin cited the move as one needed to address problems including “drinking, fighting, drug dealing, abusive language, littering, prostitution and using alleys and doorways as toilets,” the Wisconsin State Journal reported at the time.

In 2025, those complaints have persisted.

“I’ve had employees tell me they’re getting accosted walking home from work at night,” said Anthony Moors, manager of Michelangelo’s Coffee House, located in the 100 block of State Street.

City planners in April 2024 began a process to find other uses for the spaces, which are now surrounded by a number of redevelopment projects. The Wisconsin Veterans Museum, which borders North Carroll Street, is set for a renovation in 2027. The construction of the new Wisconsin History Center is underway and Hovde Properties recently announced it planned to develop the Churchill Building into a boutique hotel. 

Dan McAuliffe, city planner, outlined three potential designs for the plaza, though he cautioned that “we don't expect any of these as drawn today to be what gets built.” All would add increased lighting and revamped pedestrian plazas to the corners stretching northwest and southeast from State Street. McAuliffe said food carts and vendors could also make use of the spaces.

And city planners would be “relying” on partners like the Wisconsin Veteran’s Museum, Downtown Madison Inc. and the Business Improvement District to devise programming opportunities to bring people into the space, said McAuliffe.

“We build the room,” said McAuliffe. “We don’t throw the party.”

The Forum of Origin, a public art pavilion and mesh dome designed by architect Brower Hatcher in 1993, is not guaranteed to remain in the new design. McAuliffe said that the Madison Arts Commission would have to sign off on the removal and that no decision has been made yet about whether to remove the installation.

Local business owners at the meeting expressed concern about one proposal from city planners — the potential removal of the small parking lot on Carroll Street. Rose Mohan, general manager of Ian’s Pizza, said they use the Carroll Street circle at the back of their building “significantly for our delivery operations.” Delivery operations account for up to $1.5 million of the store’s yearly sales, she said.

“While all three of these designs are beautiful, we are very concerned about how this will impact our delivery conditions,” Mohan said in the meeting’s online chat. “Are there any solutions to this that the city is considering or is this an issue Ian’s will just have to figure out?”

Moors said many of his older customers are accustomed to parking briefly in the spots behind the coffee shop. “I have yet to really hear solutions for somebody’s parking,” he added. “The solution is somebody can cross the street. And that’s a hike.”

McAuliffe said there was a community push during a meeting in January to implement “designs that looked at very limited vehicular access” and noted that the State Street Capitol Parking Garage is nearby. 

“We thought this seems like a good opportunity to recapture some space that's predominantly used for storing of private vehicles and program it for a better use of public space,” said McAuliffe. “We certainly understand the delivery schedules…and we're certainly looking at how we can accommodate that.”

McAuliffe said he expects to hold a meeting in the winter to review final designs.