Altius Building Company Earns Daily Reporter Top Projects Award

Altius Building Company announced today that they have earned a Daily Reporter Top Projects Award for the Oriental Theatre’s historic restoration project. There were over 100 nominations this year, with 40 winners. The ceremony is being held on Wednesday, May 11th, 2022, at 4:30p.m. at the Brookfield Conference Center.

“Altius is ecstatic over receiving this award for such a Milwaukee jewel of a project. The preservation project spanned several phases and we battled through the pandemic together as a team. It’s an honor to work on a project that holds so many fond memories of great adventures from younger years to even now with how far Milwaukee Film has grown to include the annual festival. There is literally something showing to suit all interests and why this project is so important for the community. It’s a must see destination for Milwaukee.”

– Scott Drees, President & CEO – Altius Building Company

Built in 1927 the historic Oriental Theatre needed substantial updating and renovations. As the theater was in operation, a wave of construction phases were planned to minimize business disruptions. Phase one included the addition of a women’s restroom on the main floor, larger men’s restroom, a family restroom, janitors’ closet, retail store space, storefront restoration, new projection, and sound equipment. Phase two included continued updating encompassing new seats for Theater C (west house), acoustical wall treatments for the west house, floor repair, and a concession stand. Phase three included the renovation of the main house and Theater B (east house). During Phase 3, COVID-19 impacted construction, however the actual theater closed operations allowing for less stress of completing renovations while operations were underway. The phase four balcony remodel was the last phase to be substantially completed in November of 2021. The theater hopes to continue additional phases as fund raising allows.

Over the course of this 29 month long, phased project Milwaukee Film engaged the services of The Kubala Washatko Architects as the designer, Voss Jorgensen Schueller (VJS) as the owner’s representative and Altius Building Company as the construction manager. The team worked tirelessly to complete the many aspects of each phase of this historic restoration project.