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Old theaters really spark our nostalgia, curiosity and interest and the Ward Memorial Theater at the Old Solders Home on the grounds of the Zablocki VA Medical Center seems to ignite wonder and interest more than most.
Perhaps it’s the beautiful exterior or the historic setting. Maybe it’s the out-of-time interior with its wooden seats (that have top hat holders affixed underneath), array of viewing boxes and murals.
Surely that excitement is due in part to the “secret” balcony-level space that is practically wallpapered in vintage show posters that have remarkably maintained the vibrant colors of their intriguing designs promoting long-since-departed performers.
Although the 900-seat theater has been mothballed for a few decades now, its glory days ended considerably earlier than that.
But, still, we long to see it restored and reopened, even if we don’t exactly know for what purpose.
Movies? Concerts? Plays? All of the above?
The good news is that there is now a solid plan – with financing! – to restore the 1881 theater, which was designed by Milwaukee architect Henry C. Koch, the architect of City Hall, The Pfister Hotel, Turner Hall, Gesu Church and other landmarks.
After the successful restoration of neighboring Old Main and the Administration Building into supportive housing for homeless veterans, the same developer – The Alexander Company – is now part of a team that will restore three more buildings on the grounds.
The theater, along with the 1889 Soldiers Home Chapel (also a Koch design), and 1868 Governor’s Mansion (drawn, like Old Main, by architect Edward Townsend Mix) will be rehabbed to create community space and support services for veterans with partners including The Center for Veterans Issues, the Wisconsin Veterans Network, Journey to the Light Ministries and Feast of Crispian.
The adaptive reuse plan would preserve the historic uses of the 21,986-square-foot theater, which would serve as a cinema and entertainment venue for veterans as well as a site for conferences and lectures for VA staff.
“Together with a wide array of partners, we are in the midst of accomplishing the seemingly impossible,” said Milwaukee Preservation Alliance Executive Director Emma Rudd when the project was announced in May.
“After more than a decade of advocacy, MPA is thrilled to witness The Alexander Company and VA begin the next phase of work, with plans to restore three more iconic buildings for the service of our nation’s heroes.”
The Ward, Milwaukee Preservation Alliance avers, is “arguably (architect Henry C. Koch’s) most celebrated creation in the Soldiers Home District. “Ward Memorial Hall was constructed in 1881 and named for Horatio Ward, an American banker and patriot who created an endowment fund to construct memorial halls for the Soldiers Homes.
“The intent was to provide the Home’s residents with cultural activities such as concerts, theatrical performances, and lectures and allow them to socialize, relax and enjoy recreation time with one another.”
According to “National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers Assessment of Significance and National Historic Landmark Recommendations” by Suzanne Julin, the board of managers overseeing the soldiers homes around the country, “believed productive work was important to the well-being of the disabled veterans in the NHDVS (National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers), they also encouraged entertainment and recreation.
“Carefully designed and maintained grounds lent a park-like atmosphere to the branch environments and included features such as lakes, ponds, grottoes, and other landscape elements that refreshed and amused the members. The branches established post funds where proceeds from branch stores and other sources were deposited and used for constructing buildings such as libraries, canteens, theaters, and chapels, for buying books and other diversions, and as payment for professional entertainment.”
Ward made his fortune by investing in state bonds before the Civil War. Having left for London at the start of the Civil War, Ward died there in 1865, having included in his will a provision that left about $100,000 worth of those bonds to the "National Soldiers and Sailors Home about to erected in Washington, D.C."
“After the will was probated in London in 1867, Henry B. Hammond, a lawyer in New York engaged by the Ward family to determine what charity Ward had intended to receive the funds, identified the National Asylum,” noted the National Register of Historic Places registration form for the Milwaukee Ward.
“The funds were transferred to the control of the Board of Managers in 1871 to fund activities that benefited the members of the Home; the board identified those as cultural activities, such as concerts, theatrical performances, and lectures. To support these activities, the board allocated funding from the Ward Fund for memorial halls.”
According to Julin, Milwaukee’s was not the only Ward Memorial Hall. Because they were funded with a bequest from the late Virginian-cum-London-banker Horatio Ward, these theaters were called Ward Memorial Halls or Ward Memorial Theaters.
Theaters or halls named for Ward could also be found on the grounds of the Western Branch in Leavenworth, Kansas, and the Southern Branch in Hampton, Virginia.
The Ward is not the only building on the grounds designed by Koch, who also drew the chapel, the surgeon’s quarters, barracks buildings and others, nor was it the earliest. A hospital building of his design went up in 1879.
The building as it was originally constructed looked different inside than it does today. The reason the building is still sometimes called Ward Memorial Hall is that it was not initially a theater, but an assembly hall.
Initially, there was a post office, restaurant and shop on the first floor, along with a bay on the east end that sold tickets for the railroad that ran along the north side of the building (now the Hank Aaron Trail), headed for Chicago in one direction and Madison and Prairie du Chien in the other.
A large assembly hall was located on the second floor.
According to MPA, the Ward also served as a place of worship before the construction of the chapel and when the facility became too crowded, some veterans were housed in the Ward.
In 1889, a more than 12-foot square stained glass window picturing Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his horse – made two years earlier for the St. Louis chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic and donated to the Milwaukee soldiers home – was added, rather inelegantly to the south gable of the building.
According to an Historic American Buildings Survey of the building, in 1898, the building was almost completely gutted and the theater that you see today was built inside. As the theater became a part of the national vaudeville circuit, space was needed for dressing rooms and other back-of-house facilities, including lodging for traveling performers and so additions were made to the north of the stage.
An orchestra pit was added at this time, too.
“This expansion involved the incorporation of a rectangular, pyramidal-roofed building, with elaborate brick chimney, which may have served as the original boiler house for Ward Memorial Hall,” the HABS report declares.
Thus, when you step inside, remember that what you’re looking at most likely dates from the late 1890s rather than from 1881-2.
But that doesn’t make it any less remarkable.
Each time I’ve visited, we’ve entered via a stage door, which means our first impression of the interior has been from the stage gazing out at the seating area.
Immediately, you see the gently arching rows of wooden seats and the gracefully curving low balustrade of the balcony. A pair of columns support that upper level.
The side and rear lower walls of the auditorium are adorned with verdant murals. The side walls above are fitted with large windows with clear glass capped with smaller stained glass fenestration.
The upper rear wall has been altered, with a projection booth added at a later date.
The underside of the balcony has a pressed tin ceiling.
Also notable is the rather hamfisted-looking blue ceiling, which masks a considerably more ornate ceiling with frescoes designed by J. H. Harding that remains in place, likely from the original interior.
However, the ceiling was heavily damaged during the 1898 renovation and will not be restored as part of the current project.
While I wasn’t able to get a glimpse of it, I have seen photos taken by members of the Alexander team.
Flanking the stage are three levels of private boxes, one of which cascades down three levels from the balcony. The upper level on either side arches slightly.
While some have claimed that the theater is a copy of Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., that doesn’t appear to be the case at all. The two share some similarities, likely due mostly to the fact that they date to the late 19th century.
But Ford’s has two balconies, and the Ward just one. Ford’s has two arched boxes beneath on a single level on each side of the stage, which is completely different than the Ward configuration and design.
Also, while the Ward’s orchestra level has three aisles, Ford’s has four.
The lobby is flanked by staircases leading up to the balcony. Once up there, you can slip into the door to view the posters, which are remarkably vibrant considering their age.
The few for which I could find any references in an web search dated to 1899 and 1915.
Peering out the openings in the projection room, I could see the drapery above the stage and the long, thin arched painting above the stage proscenium, with a painted medallion in the center bearing flags, and a soldier with Miss Liberty.
Wandering around in the stairwells, I found a door leading to the old rigging loft with remnants of the rope-and-pin system for raising and lowering backdrops still in place. Next to that was a long, steep staircase leading to the up into the dark, which you know I can’t resist.
Climbing it, I found myself peering into the attic and wishing I could glimpse that hidden ceiling.
Outside, the building is gorgeous in cream city brick with red accents, including red tile diamonds. The buildings gables, arched windows, corbelling and projecting bays (which house the lobby staircases) might remind you of some of Koch’s schoolhouse designs for Golda Meir, Kagel and Garfield Avenue.
A single-story hip-roofed veranda snakes around three sides of the building.
The theater had a rather vibrant life at least halfway into the 20th century.
In 1941, months before the U.S. entered World War II, the Journal profiled Evelyn M. Elmore, who as a recreational aide at the soldier’s home, was responsible for programming the Ward.
“Preparing the entertainment for 2,500 men ranging in age from about 42 to 65 is the day and night job of Mrs. Evelyn M. Elmore,” the paper wrote, noting that most of the men were veterans of World War I or the Spanish-American War. More than 1,000 of them were patients in the hospital and the rest lived at the home.
“Mrs. Elmore, an energetic woman with a kindly smile, has learned thoroughly the distinct likes and dislikes of the veterans in the 11 years she has been in her position,” the paper wrote. “They don’t like double features, preferring a program from an hour to an hour and a half. Adventure films are popular with the men. Movies, all up to date and paid for by the government are shown in the two theaters at the home twice a week-Tuesday and Friday. A 10-minute newsreel is shown at each performance.
“The Ward hosts about 800, while the Hospital Theater in the general hospital building seats about 400,” the Journal continued. “One of the oldest buildings, the Ward is kept in good condition. Elmore also arranges floor shows by night club entertainers, stage shows currently appearing at downtown theaters, boxing and wrestling exhibitions, plays, operettas and variety shows consisting of singing, dancing and instrumental music.
“‘The veterans are especially fond of variety shows,’ said Mrs Elmore. ‘They applaud most loudly when the entertainers are children. No matter who the entertainers may be, Dick Powell, or an amateur, all volunteer their services without cost’.”
The paper added that indoor shows were typically the focus from September to June, while in warmer months outdoor band concerts, weekly baseball games and dances were organized.
Among the popular performers that appeared at the Ward were Sophie Tucker, Ethel Merman, Will Rogers, Bob Hope, Eddie Cantor, George Burns and gracie Allen, Nat King Cole and Liberace.
In 1960, the Ward staged a recreation of the assassination of Lincoln, which could be where the idea was hatched that the theater was similar to Ford’s Theater, the site of the actual assassination.
Later that decade the Wood Band used the orchestra pit for rehearsals and around the same time the Ward was a voting site.
Into the 1980s, the Ward was used by the city’s oldest community theater group, the Milwaukee Players, for rehearsals and as office space, and it still hosted performances, but considerably less often as the building was in need of repair.
An August 1985 show featuring band music, a barbershop quartet, Friends Mime Theater’s “The Cream City Semi-Circus,” a French horn quartet and clowns, was a fundraiser that hoped to help eat away at the $1.6 million needed for a three-phase restoration.
There was talk of using it, post-renovation, as a performance space for groups like the West Allis Players, Bauer Contemporary Ballet and Milwaukee Opera Co. but that never panned out. The idea of naming it honor of Liberace, who was born and raised nearby, also never came to pass.
In November 2011, the large U.S. Grant was removed for safekeeping and it remains in storage on the grounds. It will be returned to its original setting as part of the restoration.
Then, in 2018, an RFP for the theater, chapel and Governor’s Mansion at the Old Soldiers’ Home was issued, though nothing came of that. But, then, in 2021, the restoration of the iconic Old Main as housing for homeless veterans was completed and that re-invigorated the idea of doing something similar at these other three historic structures.
There has been interest from local concert promoters in using the Ward for shows, which now seems even more possible since the adjacent powerhouse was demolished and replaced with a parking lot. (At the moment, cars are really the only viable way to get concert-goers to the Ward.)
As was the case with Old Main, the partners on the project have a plan to put the buildings back in use for their original audience: those who have served their country, and that has helped with the much-needed financing.
Funding for the $24.6 million project will derive from a number of sources, including State and Federal Historic Tax Credits, PACT ACT Funding, National Park Service Save America’s Treasures Grants, New Markets Tax Credits and philanthropic donations.
The Alexander Company’s Jonathan Beck says that money from the PACT Act – which was passed in 2022 and aimed at helping to expand VA health care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxic substances – has been a key to the project.
“It's the first of the PACT Act dollars to move into a project,” Beck told me when working on a story about the chapel. “This really just wouldn't have happened without those dollars. It would've been impossible until 2022 when those funds were available. "
While a partner architect has not yet been identified, JP Cullen will be the general contractor on the project, which is expected to begin in spring 2025 and be completed by autumn of 2026.
That is surely exciting and welcome news for anyone who has laid eyes on the beautiful Ward Memorial Theater.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
