May 29, 2019 – West Bend, WI – There’s been some work on the roof going on the past few days at the Historic West Bend Theatre, 125 N. Main Street.
The building is in the midst of a $3.5 million restoration. The video below shows a slower pan of the progress including some brick work along the upper roof line.
We’ll have to tap into the history knowledge of Terry Becker to see if he knows the meaning behind the graffiti on the little red building along the east end of the roof.
It’s expected to be late July or August when Albiero Plumbing and HVAC will be adding some aerial flare to the effort as they use a helicopter to deliver the new HVAC units to the top of the theatre.
“We’ll use the helicopter to remove the old units and then deliver four new ones,” said Albiero’s John Bohn.
Albiero Plumbing is still working out the logistics with the City of West Bend, the Police Department, and the helicopter company.
Staging for this install will be at the former Gehl Company parking lot, just off of Water Street and S. Forest Avenue.
“We’re going to be flying the equipment back and forth between the theatre and staging,” said Bohn.
There will be some pretty big safety issues to consider with regard to this type of special delivery.
Bohn said the roads they fly over, including Water Street and Veterans Avenue, will be closed during the project which is estimated to take four to six hours.
Albiero’s Travis Roell said logistically it wasn’t possible to complete the project from the ground because of restrictions on closing Main Street in the Downtown West Bend Business District.
“We couldn’t bring in a crane because we’d have to shut down the road for two days,” said Roell. “This probably hasn’t been done before …. we’ve not done this before.”
Years ago when the theatre was built in 1929, Roell speculates a crane had to be used to install the heating system. “Who knows… they could have taken them up there with ropes for all we know,” he said.
Safety, is a big factor and according to Bohn the helicopter company will require two crews for the project.
“One will be on the ground in the staging area to hook the equipment to the helicopter and another crew on the roof to guide it into place,” he said.
Midwest Helicopter from Illinois will be assisting Albiero Plumbing with the project.
