The Bucks want fans to treat the plaza outside Fiserv Forum as Milwaukee's go-to gathering placemilwaukee business journal
The Bucks saw plenty of fan traffic in and around the plaza outside Fiserv Forum during the arena's first season, but the "question is whether the development can become a new go-to year-round destination for entertainment" in Milwaukee, according to a front-page piece by Sarah Hauer of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. Bucks Senior VP/Bucks Ventures & Development Michael Belot said the team's "overarching goal is to be Milwaukee's gathering place." People come to downtown Milwaukee before events and "stick around afterward to eat and drink." Local bar Punch Bowl Social Regional Dir of Operations Joe Schratz said that his team was "more worried about accommodating basketball crowds after its March opening, not planning ahead for summer programming." Schratz is "starting to think now about how to build out summer programming for next year." Adding a "shuttle bus to and from Brewers games, Summerfest or other events around the city is one idea." Parking lots "remain open north of the arena and south, where the Bradley Center once stood." That development is "what many say is necessary for the plaza to become a year-round destination." Construction in those spaces is "on hold until after Milwaukee hosts" the '20 Democratic National Convention. Definitive plans for the lots "have not been released" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 7/30).
