Milwaukee courthouse closed for rest of week; Safety Building reopens

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The Milwaukee County Courthouse will remain closed for the rest of the week, but the adjacent Safety Building reopened Wednesday.

A fire in the courthouse’s basement Saturday wiped out the courthouse’s electrical infrastructure, Brendan Conway, County Executive Chris Abele’s communications director, said.

“The entire electrical infrastructure of the courthouse is gone,” Conway said. “It’s destroyed.”

The courthouse and Safety Building share a ventilation system, and both buildings were closed Monday and Tuesday due to smoke damage. Cleaning crews in the complex are relying on generators, Conway said.

Air quality test results Tuesday cleared the county to reopen the Safety Building.

All criminal court cases scheduled for Wednesday will be heard in either the Safety Building or Criminal Justice Facility, and those involved should report to Room 117 in the Safety Building, according to a news release from the county. Those with an 8:30 a.m. hearing should appear at 9:30 a.m. Hearings scheduled for 1:30 p.m. are not expected to be postponed. Jurors are not required to report for duty, according to the release.

All cases scheduled for Monday and Tuesday were postponed until next week.

Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors meetings scheduled for this week have been moved to General Mitchell International Airport and the Milwaukee campus of Milwaukee Area Technical College.

A special meeting called to discuss Abele’s vetoes from the board’s June meeting will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday in room M210 at the Milwaukee campus of Milwaukee Area Technical College.

The regular meeting of the board’s Transportation, Public Works and Transit Committee will be held at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Sijan-Lovell Room at GMIA, 5300 S. Howell Ave., Milwaukee.

The regular meeting of the board’s Judiciary, Safety and General Services Committee will be held at 9 a.m. Thursday in room M210 at MATC.

Conway said the county’s insurance is expected to cover the cost of repairs.