Courtroom renovation brings back flood of memories

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Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Bill Pocan’s temporary loss of his courtroom could result in a permanent gain for the Milwaukee County Historical Society.

In mid-December, Pocan’s courtroom on the fourth floor of the courthouse flooded overnight after a toilet overflowed in the adjoining jury room.

“There was six inches of water,” his clerk, Debbie Kuether, said. “But we didn’t lose anything other than the carpeting.”

For six weeks during repairs, Pocan and Kuether were nomads in the courthouse, spending time in five different courts before moving back into Room 401 for good on Friday, with new carpeting under their feet.

Kuether also made a discovery during the unexpected evacuation.

“When we were moving stuff out,” she said. “I found an old book of newspapers that had probably been here as long as the court.”

It turned out to be a bound volume of The Milwaukee Journal from 1903.

Clerk of Courts John Barrett said he planned to turn the artifact over to the historical society and acknowledged that had it not been for the flood, the discovery would not have been made.

“Who knows, “he said. “They may have been there for another 100 years.”