Milwaukee alderman pushes idea of building a downtown "Center"

MILWAUKEE -- Alderman Terry Witkowski is suggesting the city of Milwaukee replace the Bradley Center with more than just another sports facility.

"Could there be an office tower here? Could there be entertainment venues? Shopping? Housing? Could this all be in one spot?" Witkowski said.

Another addition to his hypothetical plan is a third convention hotel in the area that would attract more tourism and business to downtown.

He's thinking in a much broader sense than just replacing an arena, and he's using examples like the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It started as just an arena and is now an entire entertainment zone.

"I think developers can look at those places and other things happening around the world attached to a sports venue to get an idea of what can be done," Witkowski said.

For Witkowski, it all starts with a mindset.

"If we have a small expectations well we may get those small expectations, but we're not getting anything more," Witkowski said standing in a vacant lot adjacent to the Bradley Center. "If we think a little bit broader and bigger, we may well get that instead and even achieve a lot more than if we're thinking small on what we're doing."

Marc Marotta, the chairman of the Bradley Center Board, likes the big idea approach. But he says that right now the focus is to keep the Bradley Center viable for the next five years. After that is accomplished he feels big ideas can and should come in.

Senator Herb Kohl, the Milwaukee Bucks owner, says that a new arena is necessary to keep the Bucks in Milwaukee and that he's willing to spend some of his own money to help build a new arena.

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