Milwaukee County Courthouse now fully reopened

MILWAUKEE (WITI) --  Two-and-a-half weeks after a fire destroyed the main electrical infrastructure of the Milwaukee County Courthouse, the building fully reopened on Wednesday, July 24th.

"I'm here because I've got something to celebrate," said Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele. "The courthouse is open and we've got an extraordinary group of people behind me who helped make that happen."

Abele was joined by several others on Wednesday afternoon, July 24th, to express gratitude for the cooperation that enabled the quick turnaround of the courthouse.

It's been two-and-a-half weeks to get to this point -- a fully reopened Milwaukee County Courthouse -- after a fire destroyed the main electrical infrastructure.

"Our commitment has always been on public safety. We've been able to relatively, seamlessly continue that mission and for that I'm grateful," said Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm.

Don Tyler, Director of Administration Services described what he called a magical moment -- getting power from generators to the Safety Building and Courthouse.

"Largest generators from my understanding in the country, eight-and-a-half miles of cable and a portable transformer. And within days, we had the Safety Building up and the Courthouse up and running on a partial bases," said Tyler.

The big generators will be loaded up and taken away. But one will remain in place, just in case.

There is still plenty to be done in the coming weeks. The main electrical system has to be replaced. Carpeting and ceiling tiles also have to be put in on the bottom three floors.

Timeline of Events

Coming weeks:

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