The Orpheum Theater will undergo facade improvements to update the decades-old exterior while still maintaining its iconic old fashioned style after Madison’s Board of Estimates approved a $20,000 grant to the owner Monday.
Owners Gus and Mary Paras will be required to spend a minimum of $20,000 of their own money to match the city’s grant. The total project costs are estimated at just over $42,000.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said last year that Paras plans to reestablish the Orpheum as an entertainment venue open to comedy shows and wedding receptions in addition to music.
The improvements for the theater include replacing the beige 1960s era brick in the front with a type of granite that mimics the appearance of marble. The owners also presented plans to replace six emergency exit doors and frames facing Johnson Street with steel insulated doors.
Paras’s proposed changes to the exterior of the Orpheum will not modify the theater’s current plaque, a landmark that has remained a part of the city since its opening.
Madison’s Board of Estimates members also listened to the Madison Police Department’s presentation on 2015 budget plans.
The city’s executive budget allows the MPD to train two new officers as Neighborhood Resources Officers who are assigned to specific districts and provide more concentrated attention to areas with high crime. Police Chief Mike Koval is seeking funding to allow five NROs in Madison.
Ald. Joseph Clausius, District 17, asked about the difficulty of delegating two NROs to manage 20 districts when he knows of two “volatile” areas within his own district.
“The beauty of an NRO is that they can be nimble but that’s the adult version of whack-a-mole,” Koval said. “If you’re handling something here in one district and you’ve got some sort of sense of status quo, then you’re now looking for where the next hot spot will be.”
The MPD is also looking to fill a new command level position with one of the department’s current staff to address growing issues of mental health and other social needs.
“I am tightening my belt and sacrificing what scarce resources I have because I can no longer stand idly by to see this mental health issue go on,” Koval said. “If nothing else, we’re treating people more humanely.”
