Toffer Christensen is trying to thread a needle.
Six years after first stepping foot in the place and three years after buying the former tabernacle building at 1925 Winnebago St., Toffer Christensen will open Atwood Music Hall. A more than $3 million renovation has readied the property for the first acts, a musical tribute to the late Clyde Stubblefield, who drummed for James Brown from 1965-1970. The event is also a fundraiser for WORT-FM.
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The balcony of the loft was used by the Madison Gospel Tabernacle beginning in 1932 when the building opened but is now home to a bar and three rows of seats.
This has been a busy week of preparation at Atwood Music Hall. On Wednesday, Mike Madden worked to stock coolers with drinks behind the venue's main bar. There is also a first-floor cocktail lounge and a bar in the balcony.
Lights rim a large wall mirror in the headliner dressing room in the basement of Atwood Music Hall.
Jim Vogel, technical director, and Page Metcalfe, stage manager for Dance Fabulous, explore the stage area Wednesday of Atwood Music Hall on Madison's Near East Side. The group will be performing a variety burlesque cabaret show at the venue on July 19 and Vogel and Metcalfe had come to get a better feel for the new space.
Art deco design elements embellish the side walls at the Atwood Music Hall. The venue can hold 400 to 700 people depending on the setup for a show.
Tiered seating offers concertgoers a relaxed viewing experience from the balcony of the Atwood Music Hall. The balcony is also home to a bar.
Photos: Atwood Music Hall set to open on Winnebago Street
Workers install flooring at the entrance to the Atwood Music Hall as final preparations continue at the new music venue in Madison, Wis. Wednesday, June 11, 2025. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Jim Vogel, technical director, and Page Metcalfe, stage manager for Dance Fabulous, explore the stage area Wednesday of Atwood Music Hall on Madison's Near East Side. The group will be performing a variety burlesque cabaret show at the venue on July 19 and Vogel and Metcalfe had come to get a better feel for the new space.
The balcony of the loft was used by the Madison Gospel Tabernacle beginning in 1932 when the building opened but is now home to a bar and three rows of seats.
This has been a busy week of preparation at Atwood Music Hall. On Wednesday, Mike Madden worked to stock coolers with drinks behind the venue's main bar. There is also a first-floor cocktail lounge and a bar in the balcony.
Finishing work progresses inside the new Atwood Music Hall in Madison, Wis. Wednesday, June 11, 2025. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Sidewalk etching from 1969 displays the name “Freedom House,” the former entity that is now Atwood Music Hall in Madison, Wis. Wednesday, June 11, 2025. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Tiered seating offers concertgoers a relaxed viewing experience from the balcony of the Atwood Music Hall. The balcony is also home to a bar.
Atwood Music Hall owner Toffer Christensen walks through a lower level hallway toward a talent dressing room at the new music venue in Madison, Wis. Wednesday, June 11, 2025. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Lights rim a large wall mirror in the headliner dressing room in the basement of Atwood Music Hall.
Art deco design elements embellish the side walls at the Atwood Music Hall. The venue can hold 400 to 700 people depending on the setup for a show.
Art deco design is featured in the restrooms of the new Atwood Music Hall in Madison, Wis. Wednesday, June 11, 2025. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Atwood Music Hall owner Toffer Christensen, pictured in the balcony of his new venture in Madison, Wis. Wednesday, June 11, 2025. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Six years after first stepping foot in the place and three years after buying the former tabernacle building at 1925 Winnebago St., Toffer Christensen will open Atwood Music Hall. A more than $3 million renovation has readied the property for the first acts, a musical tribute to the late Clyde Stubblefield, who drummed for James Brown from 1965-1970. The event is also a fundraiser for WORT-FM.
Dallas Rucker, 18, has been a part of Operation Fresh Start's Build Academy for the past three months.
Myia Rex-Dean, 24, with Operation Fresh Start, shows some of the construction work she has done in the balcony of the Atwood Music Hall on Winnebago Street. The building was erected in 1932 for a church, with the balcony serving as a choir loft.
Dallas Rucker, 18, with Operation Fresh Start, shows some of his work at the Atwood Music Hall, standing behind what will eventually be one of three bars in the building, which will hold up to 700 people for a show.
Dallas Rucker, 18, center, and Myia Rex-Dean, 24, gather their toolbelts for more renovations.
Dallas Rucker, 18, right, and Myia Rex-Dean, 24, are both embarking on new careers with the help of Operation Fresh Start's Build Academy.
From 1980 through 2018, the site was home to the offices of Operation Fresh Start, which since 1970 has offered training in job and life skills to young people.
Toffer Christensen is seen in April after purchasing the former Madison Gospel Tabernacle building at 1925 Winnebago St., which came with a lamella roof, made up of simple, single prefabricated standard timber segments as a way to span large spaces without support columns.
