Wisconsin Pavilion | |
 The Wisconsin Pavilion as seen from East Division Street | |
  Location of the pavilion in Wisconsin  Location of the pavilion in the United States since 1967 | |
| Location | 1201 East Division Street Neillsville, Wisconsin, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 44°33′11″N 90°34′48″W / 44.553115°N 90.579973°W |
| Built | 1964 |
| Architect | John Steinmann |
| Architectural style | Mid-Century Modern |
| NRHP reference No. | 12000021 |
| Added to NRHP | February 14, 2012 |
The Wisconsin Pavilion is a modernist–style building at 1201 East Division Street in Neillsville, Wisconsin, United States. Designed by John Steinmann, the building was erected for the 1964 New York World's Fair at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York. The current structure was originally the rotunda for Wisconsin's exhibit at the World's Fair. The rotunda was moved to Wisconsin in 1965, and it has functioned as both a tourist center and a broadcast studio for radio stations WCCN AM and FM since 1967. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The New York World's Fair Corporation had invited the Wisconsin government to host an exhibit at the fair in 1961. Due to political disputes, the Wisconsin World's Fair Commission (WFC)—which was tasked with organizing the state's world's fair exhibit—was not established until July 1963. After the WFC was unable to secure funding for the pavilion, two Wisconsin businessmen, Charles Sanders and Clark Prudhon, developed the structure with private funds. The pavilion opened behind schedule in 1964 and operated as a World's Fair exhibit for two years. Ivan Wilcox, a blacksmith from Boscobel, Wisconsin, bought the rotunda and shipped it back to Wisconsin. Howard Sturtz bought the building in 1966 and reassembled it in Neillsville; the building was rededicated on July 13, 1967. The structure has been owned since the 1970s by the Grap family, who continue to operate the pavilion and radio stations.
The site is surrounded by a landscaped lawn with a sunken rock garden. The Wisconsin Pavilion is a twelve-sided structure with six canopies, in addition to a metal roof supported by slanted concrete piers. Atop the pavilion is a glass spire with letters spelling out the state's name. The interior of the building contains offices, broadcast studios, and a gift shop and tourist center. Located next to it is a fiberglass model of a talking cow named Chatty Belle, which measures 16 feet (4.9 m) tall and 20 feet (6.1 m) long.