Milton Theatre is planning to build a new education wing where its Quayside Stage is located on an empty lot between the theater and the Broadkill River.

The lot has been vacant since the brick building on the property was demolished in 2007 after being condemned by the Town of Milton because it was structurally unsound.

In this undated photo, there was also once another, smaller building adjacent to the brick building that literally stood over the river. That was the longtime home to John Starr’s barbershop and a video rental store called Video Visions. That building was also condemned by the town, but that occurred much earlier due to flooding and erosion partially caused by the replacement of the adjacent Union Street bridge over the river. In 1993, Starr’s building was condemned, the Milton library was closed for several months and the building along the river that housed Milton Sausage and Scrapple Co. across the street from Starr’s barbershop reported cracks, but remained open.

The bridge was originally built in 1916 and reconstructed in 1952 before being replaced in 1993.