Sealed like a tomb for nearly 70 years, Milwaukee's historic Turner Hall is conducting a vigorous campaign to unlock the potential of its once spirited and socially dynamic ballroom.

The movement to restore the dance hall was launched only recently. Ravaged by a couple of ceiling fires in 1933 and 1941, the second-floor ballroom was deemed inoperable and relegated to storage space for decades. In 2000, the vision to refine this lost treasure was tabled.

That's when The Turner Ballroom Preservation Trust was formed. Its mission, after years of discussion and debate, is to restore and preserve the original architectural and ornamental detail of the ballroom, and to re-establish it as a unique venue in the community for artistic and cultural uses.

"The thing that is holding us back right now is the facility itself," says Julian Imilkowski, the Trust's executive director. "Right now we work in conjunction with the restaurant downstairs. There are people who like using this space but there are others who physically can't until we make the upgrades."

When the wooden French-doors to the two-story ballroom first swung open in 2000, the creative juices began flowing. Seeing past all the damage to the ceiling above the elaborate stage, the rest of the 11,000-sq. ft. space is quite sound.

"We do everything in here," Imilkowski explains. "One of the programs that we focused on is called local emerging artists platform, and through that, we provide this space to the next, up-and-coming artist. These theater groups may not necessarily show at the Pabst Theater or the Milwaukee Rep. They have their own following and are very talented, but may not have the space or the money or the marketing and publicity vehicles. We've become their platform or step for what they may want to do."

In addition, the ballroom has slowly lured back a number of other events while the process of restoring its luster is being plotted.

"We've entertained fashion shows, dance groups, poetry readings, inner disciplinary groups and fundraisers," adds Imilkowski of the ballroom's versatility. "But I think this ballroom is and will be successful. In just a couple of years, we've gone from no one knowing it was available to becoming the buzz around town."

The space was used recently for some of the First Milwaukee International Film Festival's seminar presentations.

"In terms of the esthetics and the renovation, we've come to learn that the general public really likes the way this room looks," Imilkowski says. "It has a very distinctive personality. I call it 'shabby chic.' People can do what they want with it. They can make it as beautiful or as ornate as they like."

Imilkowski points to the next phase of reviving this ballroom as critical.