Milwaukee Bucks President Peter Feigin says he rode out the intense politics surrounding a proposed new arena in downtown Milwaukee by “playing dumb.”
But he fully understands the hurdles to creating a “best of class” sports facility and training center along with an exciting retail, office and residential district.
The “polarization” between Milwaukee and the rest of the state, poverty in the area, lack of skilled workers and perceived high crime in the vicinity makes the dream, in his words, “not a sure thing; not a sure thing at all.”
Feigin told attendees at a WisPolitics.com luncheon Thursday at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa that he sought advice from those involved in renovating Lambeau Field in Green Bay and building the Miller Park baseball stadium. He said he also met extensively with lawmakers.”We have to create a place where people come, they stay, and they come again,” Feigin said, “(where) people live for long periods of time, and people work. Those are three big components that we’ve got to be really successful with.”
But for a while, Feigin feared arguments over taxpayer funding would derail the whole thing. He said it was “dramatically depressing” when an early arena-funding measure was taken out of the state budget.
But Feigin said he later recognized the delay as an opportunity for Bucks officials to meet with lawmakers “one by one, to really tell the story of how important economic development is, how important it is for an NBA team to be involved, what the growth means and what the sustainability means for the city.”
“Although I was crushed at the time,” he said, “I think that period of time … really changed the whole course of getting this approved.”
Feigin, a development and marketing executive from New York, said there was a “distinct advantage in not having a legacy” in local politics.
“I could play dumb and really be dumb,” he joked.
Wisconsin taxpayers will foot about half of the $500 million-plus new arena, a deal critics say takes away money for education and other public needs to favor billionaire owners of the pro basketball team. But supporters say it will improve economic conditions in poverty-strapped Milwaukee in the long run by creating jobs and drawing tourist money. Supporters also argued that without a new arena, the Bucks would leave Wisconsin, taking significant annual revenue with them.
Feigin said he was “very aware” of the history of contention over the construction and maintenance of Miller Park, where nearby economic development has only partially come true since the stadium was completed in 2001.
“I met with two people,” he said. “One of them was (former Milwaukee Brewers owner and ex-baseball commissioner) Bud Selig. I asked him how to avoid a 10-year era to get this done and to walk through the politics.
“The other was Mike Duckett, (executive director of the Miller Park Stadium District) who is the public side of managing the development of Miller Park and constant maintenance.”
In addition, Feigin said, he spent hours with former Green Bay Packers chief Bob Harlan.
“He told me what he went through for five or seven years,” he said, “and he gave me some of the best advice.”
“A big lesson I learned is that Milwaukee is polarized from the rest of the state, which is very unfortunate,” Feigin said.
But he said a championship-winning basketball team could generate the kind of statewide and national fervor enjoyed by the Green Bay Packers.
In addition, he noted pro basketball attracts international interest, especially in China. So a successful Bucks team could put Milwaukee on “not just a regional or national map, but an
international map.”
Feigin acknowledged other hurdles, however.
“The reality of it is: Listen, Milwaukee’s a challenge to invest in,” he said. “We’re still not a place where there’s skyrocketing real estate values and land values. This isn’t a place where (there’s)
population growth. Along with the opportunity, there’s a tremendous amount of risk.”
The Bucks organization vows to pay “living wages” to all arena workers in an effort to reduce high turnover in what are now minimum-wage jobs. The team also wants to recruit local residents to help in construction — Feigin said “thousands of hours” of meetings with Milwaukee Public Schools and Milwaukee Area Technical College have taken place to help motivate and train young workers.
After the luncheon, Feigin told WisPolitics.com that considerable steps are being taken to address the perception that the new arena and plaza site is in a dangerous neighborhood.
“We’ve talked about it,” he said. “The design of the buildings themselves are very transparent, they’re very lit. The street lighting will be very different. The security will be very different. The parking accessibility will be different. We’ve got to make this a very safe place and very inviting to everybody.”
At this point, however, Feigin remains optimistic.
“Our key now is to build a very successful plan that will be successful without a championship,” he said. “But boy, if there’s a championship, you have hit it. Then the world is our oyster.”
Hear the audio from the luncheon
— By Kay Nolan,
For WisBusiness.com
