Eyes on Milwaukee
Bucks Live Block is a Slam Dunk
Final design gets first approval today, poised for quick council approval.
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Final design gets first approval today, poised for quick council approval. Back to the full article.
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Absolutely love the designs. Especially the connection to Old World Third. Me thinks the great bar Ugly’s will become the new Goolsby’s in terms of post-game drinking.
My predictions for cost saving:
-Windows will be 20-30% smaller (except the glass around the brewery tanks)
-Less expensive materials will be used. Expect lots of EIFS, especially on the Southernmost building.
-The OWT connection trellis will be half-assed and permanent, if it gets built
-The Northeast building may lose a floor
“…Alex was adamant that it has to be a place where it can accommodate a pickup street hockey game.”
OOOoohhhh that has my hockey dreams tingley. Maybe the owners are also hockey fans and some day relocate a team from an over crowded NYC market (Islanders) or from a struggling southern city.
It looks nice. Best of luck.
However, I am not confident that any substantial activity will happen in the offseason for quite some time. You would need more people living nearby who treat it as a local amenity, there are simply too many other options in the Summer in this city.
I swear to God, if the name of this place has the word “Live” anywhere in it, I’m going to puke. Generic AF.
^^^ my thoughts exactly when I came across the street hockey quote. Yes please!
How might street hockey work in that setting? And how would it affect other pedestrian and bicycle traffic on the site? I would guess people playing pickup street hockey generally do so at their own risk and on streets without much going on.
Community Futsol courts had been proposed for the public space under the freeway near the Public Market. Such courts could accommodate permanent pickup Futsol games. There’s still room there if avocational athletes want to push for it.
Plan Commissioner Stokes’ concern for “art that reflected the dividing line” between traditionally black and white neighborhoods seems relevant considering Mr. Feigin’s recent remarks about Milwaukee’s segregation. Two blocks north of the plaza on 4th St. is the well-regarded “Red Line Gallery,” named for such discriminatory dividing lines–created in hopes of helping to bridge them. Since the Bucks will fully control this plaza and everything that goes on there, it will be completely in their court to promote inclusiveness and “be a place where Milwaukee comes together.” That has reportedly not happened at “4th Street Live!” in Louisville. And, when the streetcar goes there it will come from the south and stop at Bucks plaza, inhibiting connectivity to and from the north.
In any case, as the Bucks lease is written they are under no obligation to serve the public in any way unless it also serves their business interests. State law regarding the arena also says only the “Bucks and their affiliates” will be allowed to use the plaza for commerce. So any “community events” will be at the will of the Bucks–whether through shrewd marketing or noblesse oblige. It will be interesting to see how this privatized plaza develops, less so for how it looks that for what actually happens there.
I wonder will Milwaukee’s high-handed loosen their grip on the licensing of strip clubs and gentlemen’s clubs in the area? I’m thinking of visits by high profile politico visiting a basketball themed club … shooting some hoops … personal cheerleading squad. Art’s Performing Center can’t possibly expand in that location nearby. This Renaissance in that area could be just the ticket.
Gary: It may be a cold day in hell before that happens. Refusal to allow new adult entertainment downtown seems to be the only thing the whole common council agree on. Seems sorta moralistic. I don’t care one way or the other but hope they will stop spending millions in tax dollars to defend that mission.