MILWAUKEE – Members of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater staff, board members and supporters donned hard hats Saturday evening while gently digging into containers of dirt with specially engraved shovels to ceremoniously break ground on the new Associated Bank Theater Center.
The program was held underneath the Rep marquee on Wells Street with about 100 attendees prior to the Rep’s annual Curtain Call Ball gala.
Scheduled to open in October 2025, the expansion will include a new black box theater, a renovation of the Powerhouse Theater complex which was established in 1988, and maintenance upgrades. The building design includes a focus on accessibility and preserves the 1900 Oneida Street power plant’s place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Milwaukee Repertory Theater Board President, Judy Hansen, announced that the $78 million expansion project is 97% funded so far, entirely by private donations, with $2 million dollars left to raise. She said that the goal of the new Associated Bank Theater center is to be “a cultural beacon for generations to come.”
Associated Bank CEO Andy Harmening calls the new building a “convergence” of art, finance, business, tourism and dining.
Milwaukee Rep’s Artistic Director Mark Clements told the gathering that he is excited to continue his efforts to “bring the best of Milwaukee to the world and the best of the world to Milwaukee” and develop exceptional new plays and musicals.
The program included actor Chiké Johnson reading the John O’Donohue poem, “For A New Beginning.”
TOP HEADLINES FROM THE 620 WTMJ NEWS TEAM:
- Friends and family gather to remember Sade Robinson
- Milwaukee man arrested for OWI with minor in vehicle
- Wisconsin man gets 15 year prison sentence for 2022 building fire that killed 2 people
- Mother’s Day: Brunch has a storied history at a local establishment
- Former Kenosha teacher charged with disorderly conduct over alleged grooming relationship with a student
READ: “We cannot let our work stop here” — Milwaukee County Exec. David Crowley inaugurated for 2nd term
