Shed: saved!

The Tinsmith is a private event venue and a brave act of historical preservation

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It could be argued that now is not the best time to be opening an event venue — when “events,” such as we know them, or knew them, can’t take place. But that’s not really the story I want to tell about The Tinsmith.

The Tinsmith is a new event space at 828 E. Main St. It will launch, if all goes well, late this summer — under circumstances that its owners, Jessica Wartenweiler and Eric Welch, could not have imagined when they started the project. 

But The Tinsmith is also an old Trachte warehouse (or more properly, two old Trachte warehouses, joined in an L shape).

Trachte buildings are the made-in-Madison, first-of-their-kind prefabricated metal buildings that celebrated their 100th anniversary in 2019. Their vertical panels, horizontal bevels and vaulted barrel roofs are a striking visual emblem of Madison, nowhere more obviously than on the near east side, where they were long manufactured. But many Trachte buildings are reaching the end of their useful lives, and with the redevelopment of the East Washington corridor, they are fast falling to the wrecking ball. 

That’s what makes The Tinsmith a great, and somewhat unlikely, story of historic preservation that came just at the right time.

“Things were going exceptionally well for us,” Wartenweiler says as we carefully maintain distance from each other and the workers who are continuing to transform the interior of the shiny, silvery warehouse. Wartenweiler gives me a tour of the project, now nearing completion. Before the pandemic hit, the venue was heavily booked for weddings starting shortly after its projected May completion date.

“I’m always on the hunt for interesting buildings,” says Wartenweiler, who also owns the Curd Girl food cart and, with Welch, has other real estate investments. She and Welch have also completed residential renovations in Milwaukee. They live near The Tinsmith, on Spaight Street. 

The couple discovered the East Main St. property, long home to the Kleenaire Corporation (seller of heating and air conditioning parts), while visiting the adjacent Robinia Courtyard dining and entertainment complex.

In 2018, Wartenweiler and Welch bought the Kleenaire property, unused for almost a decade, on the strength of its character — without knowing exactly what they wanted to do with it.

They felt the Kleenaire building was unusual enough in looks to be a draw. Wartenweiler was seeking a way to maintain its open space — “that unique barrel ceiling that’s a hallmark of the Trachte” — and that desire coincided with what she identified as “a lack of private event spaces in Madison.” Thus the idea for The Tinsmith was born. Think of it as a kind of urban version of the wedding barn. 

The space closest to the Main Street sidewalk is the front hall, ideal for wedding ceremonies; the space in the rear of the property is the main hall, more of a dinner reception area, though either space could be used for a variety of purposes. The rear space also houses a catering kitchen, along with bathrooms and a private bridal suite. To take advantage of the courtyard created by the L-shape arrangement of the two buildings, they built a four-season greenhouse or solarium. Altogether The Tinsmith has about 9,000 square feet of space.

The Kleenaire building was built in 1935 by Trachte Bros. Company founders George and Arthur Trachte, says Jason Tish, former executive director of the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation, who has nominated the restoration for a preservation award. The brothers leased it as an investment property, Tish reports, first to the Filmite Oil Co. of Milwaukee. In 1947, the Trachtes sold the warehouse to the Kleenaire Corporation. Kleenaire continued to use the building until around 2000, according to Tish.

The Kleenaire building is now one of the few remaining Trachte buildings in the East Main Street industrial area. This spring, several on the Mautz paint property were torn down, as were some on the Messner Inc. site at 1326 E. Washington Ave. Next door to the Kleenaire building, a huge gray-green Trachte warehouse is slated for demolition as that property is to become The Moxy, a boutique hotel. 

“It would have been cheaper to tear the building down and start over,” Wartenweiler says. The warehouse had no heat, air conditioning, electricity or workable plumbing, and it  came stocked floor-to-ceiling with “random HVAC parts” that no one wanted. “But I think it’s important to save this part of Madison’s industrial past.” 

While Wartenweiler is enthused to be part of “the renaissance of this area,” that renaissance is on hold, with The Sylvee currently dark and events at Breese Stevens expected to be scaled back. But plans for The Moxy hotel are moving forward. Still, it seems fortunate for Madison architectural preservation that the renovation took place when it did — during the economic boom.

“I love the energy of the old buildings with the new construction,” Wartenweiler says. The juxtaposition of old and new, sleek and industrial, is striking. The low-rise Tinsmith has a backdrop of the arresting, striped brick and glass Gebhardt building and the high-rise Galaxie apartments.

The renovation at The Tinsmith utilized as much of the original building as feasible, says Wartenweiler. New roll-up garage doors create access to the courtyard greenhouse, itself a new element. But much of the character of the existing building has been retained. A small ancillary shed near a loading dock was removed, and its metal was used to patch trouble spots. The original windows remain, with new aluminum trim. 

The severely cracked concrete floor was replaced with new concrete and hardwood salvaged from the Case Corp. plant in Racine. Original floorboards from mezzanine storage areas will be used to create a loft for overflow seating. New exposed duct work fits in with the overall industrial look, while contemporary touches, like sculptural light fixtures from Bellacor, lend an artistic touch.

The original roof has been covered with a rubber roof on the exterior (to preserve the soaring ceilings inside), and interior walls are now drywalled (needed for adding insulation) but slots in the drywall expose the original metal. Outside, Wartenweiler and Welch are leaving the exterior as is — keeping its “metal patina” as Wartenweiler calls it — and preserving Kleenaire’s painted advertising.

The Tinsmith is likely the most extensive renovation yet of a Trachte building in Madison. One has been converted into a residence on Helena Street, and one in Thurber Park is now an arts studio in a program partnership between the city of Madison and The Bubbler at the Madison Public Library.

The Tinsmith proved popular right off the bat. “We weren’t anticipating so much demand while still under construction,” says Wartenweiler. Its first wedding had been scheduled for June 13. Now, due to the limited size of gatherings, “it’s kind of a mess out there,” says Wartenweiler of the wedding scene. “No one knows quite what to do.”

Due to the pandemic, The Tinsmith rescheduled all its June and July weddings and events to later this year and into 2021. And they are watching for changes in the state guidelines for gatherings. Even with current restrictions, the facility is booked every weekend through November. 

In the “pandemic pivot,” The Tinsmith is turning to hosting  microweddings — small events of 10 and under, to conform with Gov. Evers’ Safer-at-Home order. Starting June 25, these will be held in the greenhouse; its smaller size is a good fit for a small event, yet still permits social distancing. As restrictions ease, Wartenweiler expects to adjust to larger guest lists.

In the meantime, a microwedding package from The Tinsmith includes provisions for a small exchange of vows now, with a larger celebration later on. A private, professionally produced livestream for guests who can’t be present is also an option.