Two generators unloaded to serve as power source for Courthouse

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Two enormous generators arrived at the Milwaukee County Courthouse on Wednesday, July 10th following a weekend electrical fire. The Courthouse has been closed all week. One of these generators is powerful enough to provide electricity to the entire building, and the other will be used as a backup.

"That's a level of power that we haven't had yet," Facilities Maintenance Manager Gary Waszak said.

The weekend electrical fire took out the Courthouse's main power equipment. Building inspection records show the building's power equipment was outdated and needed to be replaced.

Meanwhile, the Courthouse remains closed, and County workers have scrambled this week to find alternative office space. A County Board committee held a meeting at Mitchell International Airport on Wednesday, and the full Board held its meeting Wednesday evening at MATC.

Inside the Coggs building at 12th and Vliet, a budget analyst worked Wednesday inside a new work space.

Hector Colon is the County's Director of Health and Human Services. He received a call late Sunday asking whether he knew of any open space inside the Coggs building for displaced County workers.

"Situations like this, you just have to rise to the occasion or offer to help," Colon said.

During a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon, County Executive Chris Abele said he is "hopeful" the Courthouse will reopen next week -- but it's not yet a sure thing.