Talk of a new Milwaukee Bucks arena to replace the 24-year-old Bradley Center may still be in the early stages, but now there's a potential site in the works: the strip of land that was created when the city tore down its Park East Freeway stub to make room for new development.
One problem: This would tie up two blocks of the Park East site for the course of any arena debates, making it tough to attract any additional development. (Though it's not like anyone is exactly beating down the door to build on the site.) A bigger problem: The $34 million cost of demolishing the freeway and building a new bridge for rerouting traffic is being paid off by redirected property taxes on new development — yup, a TIF — and "a new arena, if run by a nonprofit corporation (such as the Bradley Center) or a government agency (a la Miller Park), wouldn't pay property taxes." Says Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett: "Obviously, we have concerns about the [debt]."
Also, the arena would cost up to $500 million to build, and still no one knows how that would be paid for. Details, details...
from Field of Schemes http://www.fieldofschemes.com/news/archives/2012/06/4990_milwaukee_eyes.html
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