UPDATE October 27, 2015: The Bucks have confirmed that the arena will not open until the 2018-19 season, as detailed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
As negotiations continue among the Milwaukee Common Council, a few things have surfaced regarding the building of the Milwaukee downtown arena.
Originally, the Bucks were planning to break ground this fall and have the arena ready for the 2017-18 season. Due to “everything we have to get done,” said Bucks co-owner Michael Fascitelli (pictured above) at The Pfizer Hotel for the Milwaukee Business Journal’s Downtown Milwaukee Renaissance luncheon, “the reality is we’re going to get it in for the ’18 (through spring 2019) season.” Hence, the Bucks will start construction this spring, and hope to have the arena ready by October of 2018, meaning the Bucks will play three more full seasons at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
Of course, the concern about that is whether the NBA will give the Bucks an extension after proclaiming that the team needed a new arena by 2017. But, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has affirmed that the deadline could be extended as long as a project is under way, and nobody should worry about the 2017 affecting the project.
In other news surrounding the proposal, the Common Council has voted to make amendments to the arena bill, highlighted in the Milwaukee Business Journal. First, they want to reject “the city’s plan to vacate North Fourth Street between West Highland and West Juneau avenues,” as the Bucks were looking to build a “live block” or plaza area around the arena. The Council has concerns surrounding traffic flow, but could give the Bucks permission on game-days (nights) to block off the traffic on those streets. The other amendment is about the Bucks having naming rights for the new city-owned parking structure on the north of the new arena. The city does not believe the Bucks should get those rights, and are looking for a sponsor to pay for them as they do not believe the Bucks should receive naming rights revenues.
Source: Milwaukee Business Journal
Image: Bloomberg