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Venetian Theater razed
posted by
TimothyRuf
on
April 10, 2007 at 4:55 am
MILWAUKEE, WI — The Venetian Theater Building is being razed. A crew arrived Tuesday, April 3rd and as of this afternoon, most of the west wall including the terra cotta corner, most of the east wall and a larger percent of the roof are torn down. The roof was pulled down away from the stage. This afternoon Milwaukee police had Center street blocked off to all traffic while the east wall was removed as there was concern that the front wall may colapse into the street.
Some items to note: The projection booth was intact, with the details around it including handrails for the balcony. The balcony was present as was the stage with the colored details around it and above it as well. It is very easy to see the bases of the ledges that were over the stage. One person who has been watching the razing continually over the last 4 days reported to me that upon opening the west wall, where work started, none of the interior was visible or intact. It was a crumbled mess as he described it, except for the items I have mentioned above.
The lady is not ‘going in that dark night’ with out putting up a good fight! The duplex to the east of the building, which was about 4 feet away from the brick wall has recieved damage from when the east wall was taken down. There is a large gaping hole in the roof perhaps about 10 foot long and consuming most of the roof height. One police officer told me that a few bricks came crashing into the residential area of the home.
Milwaukee has lost a great piece of history.
Comments (1)
I think it would have been nice if they had saved the exterior. But there was not much else to be salvaged. The roof had gaping holes in it, and I think that had been the case for many years.