Published: Dec. 6, 2018
Restoration expert praises downtown West Bend theater
Researchers in town to assess building's
historical elements
By Nicholas Dettmann
ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043
WEST BEND — Jeff Greene and his Brooklyn, New
York-based company Evergreene Architectural Arts are bringing long-lost
memories and characteristics out into the open.
Earlier this week, artwork painted over
decades ago was uncovered and Greene said knowing that artwork is there adds an
exciting and unique element to the ongoing Downtown West Bend Theatre
restoration project.
“I’m not aware of any other theater that’s exactly
like this one,” Greene said. “In that regard it’s unique.”
Evergreene Architectural Arts focuses its
business on specialty construction, conservation and restoration, decorative
painting and specialty finishes, murals and artwork, ornamental, flat and
specialty plaster and acoustical treatments. With Greene, the company has done
hundreds of projects throughout the U.S. and the world, including in New Delhi.
Among previous projects was restoring the chamber, such as the decorative
paintings, at the Capitol building in Madison. The company has worked on 37
state capitols.
“We get involved with all kinds of buildings, but
I happen to love theaters because of what they do for communities,” Greene
said.
Greene said when he arrived at the theater
Wednesday he had a hunch there was a possibility he’d find what he later did —
several artistic designs scattered throughout the hall of the theater as
decoration. At some point, that work was painted over.
“It’s a modest theater so what did they do?
They used paint to decorate it. It was their go-to thing,” Greene said. “I
assumed there was things ... I didn’t imagine that there would be these very
cool patterns.”
Having worked on about 400 theaters in 40-plus
years, seeing this artwork unveiled made the West Bend Theatre unique, most of
which he hadn’t seen before.
“It’s a pretty unique theater because of the
paintings,” Greene said. “There are many theaters that are shaped like this,
this size, probably hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of theaters.
“But what makes this theater unique is what
the architects put into the paintings.”
Kine Torinus, vice president of the Historic
Downtown West Bend Theatre, was awed by the discovery.
“It’s huge,” she said when asked to assess the
importance of the artwork. “As far as the story of this theater, this is what
they did in those days and to discover it is like when you dig stuff up in
archeology. It’s pretty exciting.”
Greene and his company are researching the
theater’s architectural and artistry to help form a design plan for the design
company charged with doing that for the theater project.
“You want to build a house on a sound
foundation,” Greene said. “What do you do? You check how the soil is. Before
you start building a house, you want to do it on solid ground.
“The research is establishing what was there
and inform the design process, which informs the construction.”
The goal of the estimated $3 million project is
to restore the theater to as close as to its original 1929 state as possible,
with modern technological upgrades such as handicap access, lighting, etc.
When Greene saw the artwork discovered, he
said,
“Wow. Cool. I knew it was there. I just didn’t
know what it was. It was cooler than I imagined.”
The project is moving along as fundraised
dollars keep coming in. In November, a $250,000 donation was made to bring the
total raised to $1.7 million. The hope is for the project to be completed by
Christmas 2019.
Greene said he wouldn’t mind a return trip when
the theater reopens. He cautioned the public to be patient. It’ll be worth the
wait.
“Some of these things have the gestation period
of an elephant,” Greene said with a smile
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