Good news for Wisconsin and fans of their Milwaukee Bucks. The newly rejuvenated darlings of the NBA have a deal in place for a new arena to start breaking ground in 2017.
After long debate and concern if the Bucks would get a new arena in the future, it finally appears that the arena plan will be coming to fruition in the next few years. The hard part is now over but there are still some steps the team has to go through until they can break ground on the arena.
Following from USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt.
Wisconsin State Assembly passes bill to build new Bucks arena. Big hurdle cleared for Bucks. Gov. Scott Walker expected to sign in few weeks
— Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) July 28, 2015
Next steps for Bucks/arena: Gov. signs bill; county authorizes purchase of land; city votes to negotiate lease; financing authorized.
— Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) July 28, 2015
Also an official statement From Bucks President Peter Feigin.
Today, our collective effort to create a world-class sports and entertainment district in the heart of Milwaukee took a monumental step forward thanks to the bipartisan leadership of elected officials in Madison. We’re incredibly grateful for the commitment of state, county and city officials to work together in a historic fashion to help shape this public-private partnership. There’s still work to be done and we look forward to building on this progress with the city and county, but the passage of legislation today makes our future much clearer. The Bucks will not only remain home in Wisconsin, but we’ll soon begin a transformative economic development project that will help revitalize our community and region.
The only thing that could stop the Bucks from staying in Milwaukee would possibly be if construction on the arena is started by 2017, then the NBA would take over ownership of the team from the Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry.
With new jerseys, a new crop of talent, a new headline star in Greg Monroe and a new hope in Milwaukee to get a new arena, Bucks fans have sky-high hopes.
