May “Groundbreaking” Planned For $75 Million Theater Center

Associated Bank Theater Center. Rendering by Eppstein Uhen Architects.

Get the silver shovels ready. The Milwaukee Repertory Theater is planning a late May 2024 groundbreaking for its downtown theater center, 108 E. Wells St.

The Associated Bank Theater Center is slated to open in fall 2025, but getting there will be complicated given that it will replace an existing theater complex and that Milwaukee Rep intends to program a full season of shows while construction is ongoing.

The project will involve some shows being relocated to the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts in Brookfield, the Marcus Performing Arts Center and the smaller Stiemke Studio within the existing complex. A full schedule for 2024 and 2025 shows will be announced in February.

The project, unveiled in fall 2022, calls for redeveloping the 1980s theater center with substantially new theaters, the addition of an education and community center and entirely new common spaces throughout.

In a statement announcing the construction timeline, Milwaukee Rep reported raising 90% of its $75 million goal for its Powering Milwaukee campaign.

The new mainstage Ellen & Joe Checota Powerhouse Theater, to replace the 720-seat Quadracci Powerhouse theater, would have a flexible configuration, a fly loft to move scenery, accessibility improvements and new production technology. The number of seats would be reduced to 650, in part because the new seats would be wider. The organization says it will be the only theater with fixed seats in the world that can convert from a thrust to proscenium configuration, making it “compatible with every theater in the world.”

A new black-box-style theater would replace the 205-seat Stiemke Studio. The reconfiguration would increase the capacity and provide for easier theater reconfigurations. A new lobby and sound barrier would be created. Work on that theater won’t begin until May 2025, allowing the Powerhouse Series shows to use the theater. The 186-seat Stackner Cabaret, which was overhauled in 2018, would see minor changes.

The Richard and Ethel Herzfeld Foundation and Milwaukee Rep announced a $5 million gift in January to fund the Herzfeld Foundation Education & Engagement Center. The new center will include a performance venue with seating for up to 125 patrons, multiple classrooms, accessible restrooms, a prep kitchen, a direct entrance from the Milwaukee RiverWalk and an event space that can also be used by community partners.

A new large lobby, named for Sandra and William Haack, would be created facing E. Wells St. and is intended in part to better connect the theater complex with the attached buildings. A riverwalk gathering space would be named for Northwestern Mutual and allow for pre and post-show events. A 35,000-square-foot production center is planned within the complex.

Shows for the 2024-2025 slated to take place in the Stackner Cabaret and Stiemke Studio will not need to be relocated. The performance of A Christmas Carol will continue to occur at the Pabst Theater, another building connected to the larger Associated Bank River Center complex.

Milwaukee Rep is working with Eppstein Uhen Architects, Hunzinger Construction and construction management and advisory firm Chamberlin LLC on the complex’s development.

The theater portion of the development was most recently known as The Patty & Jay Baker Theater Complex. The central building in the theater dates back to 1898 and was built for the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company as the Oneida Street Station. Designed by Herman Esser, it bears the notable engineering distinction of being the first power plant in the country to burn pulverized coal. Renderings depict the glassy lobby and common spaces enclosing a portion of the structure, but not hiding its distinct design.

Renderings

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Complex Photos

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