The stage is constructed Monday for Thursday's Democratic presidential debate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Helen Bader Concert Hall.

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The guy in charge of the site for Thursday night's Democratic presidential debate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has had a lot on his mind this week — from how to move a five-octave marimba that wouldn't fit into an elevator, to whether single-digit temperatures could create another bathroom incident for Hillary Clinton, or perhaps Bernie Sanders this time.

The water in the external tank for the bathroom trailer placed just offstage for one of the candidates to use during commercial breaks will freeze below 10 degrees. The mercury, unfortunately, is expected to dip to 5 degrees Thursday night, said Randall Trumbull-Holper, director of facilities for the Peck School of the Arts.

The trailer is heated, but the water tank isn't. Trumbull-Holper has it figured out, though: "If nothing else, we'll find a heater and just point it at the tank."

The presidential portable potty is supposed to help avert a repeat of what occurred during the Dec. 19 debate, when the ABC moderators returned from a commercial break and began asking questions even though Clinton wasn't back at her lectern. She showed up a few moments later, offering an awkward, "Sorry."

The Boston Globe reported she was late because the only women's bathroom was farther from the stage than the men's room, and it was occupied by someone else upon the former secretary of state's arrival.

UWM is pulling out all the stops to make sure everything goes smoothly for the debate in the columned Helene Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts, which was a synagogue until UWM bought and renovated it in 2000 for the Peck School of the Arts music department and its many ensembles. The dance program also has yoga studios there.

The debate will be staged inside the ornate Helen Bader Concert Hall at the east end of the building. The concert hall still has the synagogue's gorgeous stained glass windows and parabolic dome.

The acoustics in the hall are a bit tricky, Trumbull-Holper acknowledged. There are some areas on stage where one could whisper and be heard, and other areas that are dead without amplification, he said.

"There were some odd decisions made in the renovation that caused less than desirable effects."

So Clinton and Sanders would be wise not to create echoes by yelling at each other, though crackerjack sound technicians should have the acoustics addressed by Thursday. The concert hall is also used by several Milwaukee area performance groups.

Exposure for UWM

"PBS NewsHour," which is producing the debate, will pay UWM roughly $50,000 to cover expenses. At the same time, university officials hope viewers around the world will notice UWM provided the forum for Clinton and Sanders to debate everything from health care and foreign policy to college affordability, just two days after the New Hampshire primary. Lots of UWM branding should be visible to television viewers.

"It's a great opportunity for the university," Trumbull-Holper said.

Much of the touch-up work done in the Zelazo Center in recent weeks needed to be done anyway, he said. That included smoothing over dings and dents in lobby walls outside the concert hall, and replacing the orange carpet in the room with the cobalt stained glass windows, which was the synagogue's chapel.

Trumbull-Holper spent weeks planning the logistics for equipment "PBS NewsHour" would need in each room to stage the debate, to accommodate the candidates' dressing rooms and staff, and the domino effect of moving students, faculty and musical instruments.

"The hardest part is trying to anticipate everything," Trumbull-Holper said late Monday night.

Trumbull-Holper used university grounds crews and about 30 students he hired to do the moving, since it was too expensive to use an outside moving crew. He figures he has worked 12- to 13-hour days, seven days a week, for about the last three weeks.

Student work crews carried what musical instruments they could and rolled others like the tympany and xylophone across busy Kenwood Blvd. to the Student Union, where all the large instruments will be stashed and 10 classes have relocated this week in upper meeting rooms.

Things got a little dicey when the five-octave marimba wouldn't fit in the Student Union elevator Monday. But Trumbull-Holper and four or five percussionists together managed to lift the 8-foot-long, 300- to 400-pound percussion instrument up the zigzagging staircase off the concourse and up to the second floor, where it will be stored all week.

"It's really valuable" Trumbull-Holper said. "It can be taken apart, but that's a lengthy option."

On Monday, someone also realized the university-owned harp needed to be moved to the Student Union for rehearsals.

"I don't even touch the harp," Trumbull-Holper said. "It's too expensive. So we had to call a harpist and used a dolly to take it across the street. It's expensive enough that the people who play harp pick a school based on if they have a good harp."

The Symphony Band and University Band hold rehearsals simultaneously three times a week, so duplicates of every large instrument had to be moved to their temporary Student Union rehearsal space.

"We knew it was going to be a heavy lift, but it's worth it," said Scott Emmons, dean of the Peck School of the Arts.

PBS looked at several possible sites around Milwaukee, Emmons said. "They were looking for a certain look and a place they could build a set and infrastructure," he said, adding the Helen Bader Concert Hall is "a charming room."

Things so far have gone relatively smoothly, though Trumbull-Holper had to round up a few buddies to work Sunday morning after the PBS crew decided some of the permanent chairs on the concert hall's main floor were in the way and needed to be removed. All the chairs in the concert hall balcony were taken out to make way for the CNN anchors' broadcast set. CNN will simulcast the "PBS NewsHour" event worldwide.

All normal activity in the Zelazo Center will grind to a halt by the end of the day Wednesday. Yoga classes, musical ensemble rehearsals, private studio lessons, and everything else will all happen elsewhere through Friday.

Even the Milwaukee County Transit bus route through the Kenwood hub outside the Student Union will have to be rerouted from 6 a.m. Wednesday until noon Friday to make way for satellite news trucks. Kenwood will be closed for much of the day Thursday between Downer and Maryland avenues. Debate-goers are being bused in, so no foot traffic will be allowed for security reasons.

Trumbull-Holper said if the weather forecast holds true, and the temperature is in single digits, they may have to erect a heated tent outside the building for the roughly 700 debate-goers to file through security. Secret Service personnel began arriving Tuesday, and the building will be completely shut down to anyone without clearance on Thursday.

An estimated 400 journalists from around the world will set up across the street from the debate site in the Student Union ballroom and lounge.

The Wi-Fi in the concrete building has been beefed up, and the university installed enough Ethernet connections for everyone, Trumbull-Holper said.

Debate basics

When and where: 8 to 10 p.m. Thursday at UW-Milwaukee's Helen Bader Concert Hall.

How to watch: PBS is broadcasting the debate (MPTV-Channel 10 in the Milwaukee area). It will also be streamed at pbs.org/newshour, and CNN will simulcast the broadcast.

The moderators: NewsHour co-anchors and managing editors Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff.

Audience:No tickets are available. An estimated 700 people will be in the audience, with an estimated 400 journalists staged in the Student Union.