"An historic day:" Riverside Theater has new look, after renovated marquee unveiled

MILWAUKEE -- A major renovation has been unveiled in downtown Milwaukee. The Riverside Theater has a brand new look!

Riverside Theater marquee

The Riverside Theater's new marquee was officially unveiled on Monday, December 14th.

"It`s an historic day where we`re sort of bringing back this Riverside Theater -- opened in 1928, back to sort of its heyday that people remember," Andy Nelson with the Pabst Theater Group said.

Riverside Theater marquee

Long-time Milwaukee residents will remember the theater's multi-faceted past.

Nelson says the Riverside was known as the Vaudeville Theater and Movie Palace before its current incarnation. He says the new marquee is a tribute to the theater's history.

"We wanted to build this horizontal marquee and then the forty-foot tall blade sign sort of really to represent that life that`s been happening in that theater for the last decade," Nelson said.

Riverside Theater marquee

Nelson says the design is meant to put some of the theater's inner themes on display for the outside world.

"And so we took pieces that everyone knows and sort of iconic images throughout the theater inside," Nelson said.

Riverside Theater marquee

A crowd of people turned out to watch the lights flick on for the very first time. Some say they see the investment as  a sign of a bright future for the Milwaukee area.

"It`s very difficult to drive around downtown now and not see evidence of cranes in the sky, buildings going up, signs getting redone," Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele said.

Nelson says the new marquee took about four months to put together, and is part of a larger theater restoration that's still going on.

Riverside Theater marquee