GRAND THEATRE’S WALL ABOUT TO MOVE FOR NEW MSO HALL
It might be a bit like watching paint dry — albeit paint on a 625-ton wall that’s being moved to help create one of downtown Milwaukee’s largest redevelopment projects.
Yes, it’s an unusual feature of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s $89 million conversion of the former Warner Grand Theatre into its new concert hall.
The building’s eastern wall, known for its decorative terracotta exterior, will be moved 35 feet to accommodate an expanded stage. That’s to occur this month.
But, that move will proceed “at a snail’s pace,” said Cory Henschel, director of preconstruction at C.D. Smith Construction Inc., the project’s Fond du Lac-based construction manager.
It will likely take about three days to move the wall, Henschel said.
There will be seven 5-foot staged moves, each taking at least 30 minutes. And there’s a minimum of 30 minutes between each stage to reset the process.
So, theoretically, the entire move could occur within seven hours.
“That’s if everything went perfectly,” Henschel said, “which is not going to happen.
“If anyone thinks they’re going to stand there and watch the wall move ... you’re going to fall asleep,” he said.
Now that those expectations have been lowered, here’s why we should still care:
Milwaukee, we’re about to see a historic building’s wall, 86 feet high and 100 feet long, move on to what was North Second Street — which is being narrowed to accommodate the expanded building.
This rarely happens, said Tyler Finkle, project manager at International Chimney Corp., the Buffalo, New York-based firm overseeing the move.
International Chimney has moved two historic theaters: the Gem Theatre in Detroit and the Schubert Theatre in Minneapolis.
But this is the first time the firm has moved just one wall of a historic building, Finkle said.
“Moving a box is easier and safer to balance than moving one wall,” he said.
The move is designed to preserve the wall’s original 1931 steel frame, cream city brick and terracotta cladding.
Around $18.3 million of the overall cinema conversion’s costs are being covered by state and federal historic preservation tax credits.
To obtain the tax credits, the symphony must preserve the former cinema — including the back wall.
And moving the wall is the best solution to the problem of making sure every symphony hall patron has a good view of the stage.
“There’s no other way to do it,” Finkle said. The old stage was too small to accommodate a typical symphony performance, with 70 to 85 musicians.
But extending the stage forward would cut off views of the orchestra from the balcony seats.
It also would cover some of the building’s interior historic features. That could affect the project’s ability to obtain the preservation tax credits.
“The wall move is a very important part of the tax credits,” said Susan Loris, MSO’s executive vice president for institutional advancement.
Once the wall is moved, work can begin on creating the new stage — where the orchestra is to begin performing in September 2020.
The symphony now plays at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts.
In its new hall, the orchestra will offer dozens of additional performances and enjoy more favorable dates, including holiday season slots. It will be able to better schedule high-profile guest artists.
The new facility also will provide a more intimate concert experience, with 1,750 seats, compared with 2,300 seats at the Marcus Center.
The project will be among Milwaukee’s biggest redevelopments — adding to the revival of down
town’s west side.
The nearby former Grand Avenue mall is being transformed into offices, apartments and a food hall, and renamed The Avenue. Fiserv Forum is about to mark its one-year anniversary. Meanwhile, new apartments and hotels have opened.
The renovations at the former cinema, 212 W. Wisconsin Ave., started in June 2018.
The work done so far includes new heating, air conditioning, plumbing and electrical systems. The old seats have been removed.
Construction has started on an three-story addition to the north to provide more space for dressing rooms, loading docks and other uses.
Also, a former restaurant at 202 W. Wisconsin Ave. has been demolished to make way for a glassy, two-story lobby addition.
Meanwhile, five floors from the 12story office building next to the symphony hall are being converted into a private room for orchestra patrons, warm-up space, a sheet music library and the orchestra’s administrative offices. The remaining floors will be set aside for future uses.
The wall move will be perhaps the most visible sign of progress.
To prepare for the move, the wall’s parapet and three decorative exterior balconies have been removed, said Henschel, of C.D. Smith Construction. Those terracotta features will be repaired and reattached after the move is completed.
The wall will be separated from the building with power saws. Part of the wall’s lower portion has been demolished and will be rebuilt after the move.
Also, a temporary plywood wall has been installed to protect the theater from rain and other outside conditions.
Meanwhile, the area where the wall will be moved is being prepared to handle the 625-ton load.
A new concrete, steel-reinforced slab has been poured over a layer of gravel, Henschel said. A series of support beams were built on top of that slab.
The detached wall will be trussed with steel supports to keep it intact, he said.
Fortunately, the wall was built with a steel frame — providing additional support for the move.
“That’s a life saver,” Henschel said. “We’re tying the move steel into the existing steel so it kind of sandwiches all together,” he said.
The wall will be slowly lifted and then moved with 24 hydraulic jacks on six main steel beams. Those jacks are attached to chain linked bearings called rollers.
The wall is then pushed using hydraulic ram jacks, Henschel said.
The move could occur the week of Aug. 12, he said.
But weather conditions, including rain and wind, could play a role in that schedule. The emphasis will be on ensuring the move occurs safely, Henschel said.
“We won’t move it unless everybody’s comfortable with it,” he said.
Once the move is done, the building will be extended with new construction to reattach the wall.
The city is providing a $750,000 to grant to help pay for moving the wall.
Also, North Second Street, which is being narrowed to accommodate the expanded building, is being reconstructed between West Wisconsin and North Plankinton avenues.
The Common Council and Mayor Tom Barrett in 2017 approved $2.5 million for that street work.
But those costs will be higher because there are more underground utilities that must be relocated than officials initially realized.
The council on Tuesday approved spending an additional $3 million on that street work.
Those funds are coming through property tax revenue generated by a nearby tax incremental financing district.
That financing district features HUB640, the former Boston Store building that has apartments and newly renovated office and retail space.
The district also includes the offices, retail space and a Marriott Residence Inn at the former Marshall Field’s building.