September 12, 2021 – Hartford, WI – It looked like a scene out of a movie as a truck with a mounted boom, hung precariously off the side of Schubert’s Hartford Theatre, 1351 S. Grand Avenue, Hartford, WI.
The scenario started Friday morning, Sept. 10, 2021 as contractors measured how far the crane could extend over the roof as the theatre worked on a remodel project.
After the crane tipped, lifting the truck off the ground passing motorists did a doubletake and customers at the hardware store next door couldn’t help but stop and stare. On Saturday, two other cranes worked to remove the first.
The video below, courtesy Eric Bauer, shows how the crane and the truck were finally removed from the building more than 24 hours later.
“I was inside the theatre when it happened,” said Bill Schubert, owner of the Hartford Theatre. “It landed on two cement brick walls on the roof so it didn’t actually contact the roof. It looks worse than it is.”
Click HERE to watch the first video of the truck off the ground
Schubert was inside and another woman from Well Spring Church was also inside when it happened. “It scared me. It was loud,” Schubert said. “She came running out of her office and I looked out the window and saw the outriggers up in the air and I thought… we have a problem.”
The cranes onsite Saturday were not holding the truck aloft. The cranes did have safety harnesses in place however when the boom shifted it lifted the truck off the ground.
Schubert said nobody was hurt.
The theatre is undergoing a major renovation with a new vending stand, new parking lot, and new roof. “We just got off to a bad start.. but it’s going to look nice when it’s all done,” said Schubert.
Theatre buffs were trying to think of a good movie to debut once the theatre remodel was complete. “Fast and the Furious” or “Speed” with Keanu Reeves were a couple of the blockbusters mentioned as neighbors stood watching the slow-motion crane removal.
