Set for November of 1992, the referendum campaign was heated, but the Friends of Monona Terrace campaign prevailed. City planner George Austin gives kudos to Morris Andrews, former head of the state teachers union, for running that campaign, and also to Mary Lang-Sollinger for her "buy a tile" effort that helped galvanize the center's supporters. Austin, too, along with any number of city staff members, labored long and hard on the nuts and bolts items -- permits, water utility analysis, dozens of things -- that needed to be in place for construction to start. The referendum passed in November of '92, but hurdles remained before ground could be broken. County Executive Rick Phelps, with bipartisan help from county board members Dick Wagner and Mike Blaska, got Dane County to commit $12 million toward the project. State officials, notably Jim Klauser from the Department of Adminstration, helped clear regulatory roadblocks, environmental concerns were satisfied, and Tony Puttnam from Taliesin worked with J.H. Findorff in Madison (notably Curt Hastings and Rich Lynch) on a final cost-out to make sure the project could stay on budget. In December of 1994, a half century after Wright's initial proposal, Findorff and the Chicago firm of Stein & Company broke ground on Monona Terrace. The dream was on its way to reality, and many people deserve credit. "There are," George Austin says, "a lot of heroes in this story."