A year after devastating floods, Milwaukee Rep’s production center is back to work
CBS 58 WAUWATOSA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A year after floodwaters destroyed much of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s production facility, the space is busy again with crews building sets for the theater’s fall shows.
Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s production facility
The production center in Wauwatosa was flooded last August, damaging equipment and six decades of props, sets and antiques stored inside.
“Anything on the ground up to three to four feet was completely ruined,” said Jared Clarkin, the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s director of production.
“I was stunned. It was a surreal scene, and I had never seen that much water before,” he said.
The flood caused more than $5 million in damage. While the production center has been rebuilt, replacing what was lost will take much longer.
“It’s going to take us probably 5-7 years to even start rebuilding those items and reacquiring them,” Clarkin said.
Jared Clarkin, Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s director of production.
Now, the facility is back in operation as crews prepare for the Rep’s fall productions, including “The World Goes ’Round,” “Footloose” and “Instructions for a Séance.”
Inside the rebuilt space, workers are measuring, cutting, welding and painting pieces that will become part of the sets.
“There’s some metal work going on over there and some finishing touching on wooden pieces,” Clarkin said.
The flood also changed how the theater uses the facility.
“A lot of our shelving that you see behind me, we’ve raised the lowest portion of that to about three or four feet off the ground,” Clarkin said. “We’ve also taken some of our building equipment HVAC, water heaters, and lifted those off the ground to try to mitigate any future damage.”
Check out the Milwaukee Rep's upcoming shows HERE.
