The Packers yesterday unveiled plans for the Johnsonville Tailgate Village, a permanent structure to be built in Lambeau Field’s east parking lot for the '17 season. The area, which includes 30,000 square feet with 13,200 square feet of event space, will be free to all fans on game days. It will feature a full kitchen for event catering, indoor restrooms, plus heating and air conditioning. In the warmer months, the space will open up to include a large party deck. It is sponsored by Johnsonville, the sausage maker based in Sheboygan Falls, Wis. (Don Muret, Staff Writer). In Green Bay, Richard Ryman notes the building will be "30 feet tall at the roof line with a slightly larger footprint than the tent it replaces." Also, it will "have bars, a live music area, multiple large TVs" and garage-style doors "opening to a surrounding patio." Packers President & CEO Mark Murphy said that the building "aims to meet evolving tailgating preferences." Younger fans are "less likely than their elders to want to tailgate next to their cars in the parking lot." Murphy: "More of the younger fans would rather interact with other fans and be part of larger groups." Ryman notes the building will be "available the rest of the year" in the football offseason. Murphy "declined to say how much the structure would cost." He said that construction will begin "as soon as the weather breaks in spring and be completed by the start of preseason football" (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 10/13).
HOMEWARD BOUND? Ryman reports the Packers "might include condos and apartments in Titletown District's residential mix." Packers VP & General Counsel Ed Policy said, "Our next step will be to have more meaningful discussions with real estate developers. We want to talk to several of them." Titletown District is a 35-acre commercial/recreational/residential development comprised of Lodge Kohler hotel, Hinterland Brewery and Bellin Health Sports Medicine and Orthopedics clinic, all of which are "expected to open by the start" of the '17 NFL season. The Packers have said that they "could build as many as 70 townhouses" on the south side of the district. Policy: "The interest we've had was tremendous" (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 10/13).
