BMO Harris Bradley Center crew makes last big overnight changeover

 

Overnight Thursday into Friday, it was the last big changeover for the crew at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. That's when they switch from one event to another on back-to-back nights. Sometimes from a night event to a day event, and sometimes the crew does same day changeovers, like from the Marquette floor to the Bucks.

In this case it was the Bucks game last night and the Little Big Town concert tonight.

"This is manual labor. This is serious manual labor. That court there, those pieces are pretty heavy." said Director of Event Services Derrick McElwee.

While most people were sleeping, 20+ crew members spent the night folding up chairs, pulling up the basketball court and putting it into storage. Then the team reconfigures the arena into a concert venue. For this show, that includes building a stage.

"A changeover like this, takes anywhere from 5-7 hours." said McElwee.

It's the last high pressure changeover on the calendar before the Bradley Center gives way to the new Bucks arena next door.

"In some ways, you're like wow, finally. I'm going to make it through my entire career without not being able to complete a changeover. Never had a problem, never not finished." McElwee said. "To think about not doing it is...I haven't really thought about the end game yet."

There is just one regular season Bucks game left on the schedule, plus the playoffs. The last big event is a Bon Jovi concert on April 29th. Then there are a couple of smaller events, a Mad Hot Ballroom competition and the Marquette commencement in May and after that, it's time to wind the whole building down.