Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett gave his State of the City speech yesterday, and couldn’t help but mention “something that has generated a lot of speculation,” the possibility of a new arena for the Bucks. Which he pretty much endorsed, on the condition that some other level government is paying for it:
Over the next few months, the issue of whether to build a new arena will need to have a full public vetting. Because it’s early in the process, I want to lay-out what I believe are fundamental pieces to the puzzle. Let me be clear: I want Milwaukee to be the home of the Milwaukee Bucks for decades to come. The team is an important asset to the City, to the region and to the state.
The team belongs in Milwaukee. The team belongs in Wisconsin. That’s why I want the process to be transparent, honest and open. However, I cannot support a City of Milwaukee or Milwaukee County only financing plan. We need to have a regional plan because the Bradley Center is a regional and state asset just like Miller Park.
Barrett then went on to talk about how Milwaukee is broke, and needs more money from the state for lots of things, not just a Bucks arena. Guess it can never hurt to ask.
A bad sign for me, as a Bucks fan, is that it looks like Arena funding was the only thing in the whole speech that the mayor said he wouldn’t do. Everything else he mentioned was something he wanted to happen.