After the death of John B. Zirkel there is a period of around 5 years where we are unclear as to who was residing in 454 W. Mifflin St. from our usual sources (directories and building permits), but what we do know is that it was labeled vacant during 1974, and that in 1970 The Daily Cardinal wrote a piece on William T. Bandy and his attempt to evict student "squatters" in his recently acquired 400 block houses. 450 W. Mifflin was purchased during the same time that Bandy purchased 454 W. Mifflin. 

Bandy had a fascinating history with these two buildings as it is stated by Andrea Blimling in her article Blood on the Third Coast: Causes and Consequences of Madison's 1970 Sterling Hall Bombing, that he caused the Miffland Melee which was the physical altercation between students and Madison Police when he started gassing student protests residing within his properties. It appears that this era for 450 and 454 was marked by many scuffles between landlords and students in line with a cultural and political shift that was occurring on campus at the time. It is during this time period that changes are made to 450 which mostly include extensions to the building to accommodate as many students as possible and changes the norm for buildings in this area; no longer are they constructed to provide a home for families, but instead provide a commodity to students. Fun fact; William Bandy received over 54 building citations for a total of 5 owned homes.