The Bradley Center Follies

Oh, yah. The full-court press is on (cough.)

To the more than 1.6 million people who attend events at the Bradley Center each year, the downtown Milwaukee sports and entertainment facility does not look like it is 20 years old.

But leave the public concourse and seating bowl areas and you see many of the reasons that Bradley Center officials are pushing for $5 million in state money as part of a $23 million maintenance plan for the aging sports arena. The Bradley Center is the second-oldest arena in the NBA that has not had a major renovation

Which is to say that BC management FAILED "Capital Budgeting 101", if they ever actually attended the course in the first place.

But if you think that giving Herbie Kohl's palace $5 million in taxpayer funds is, frankly, stupid, it gets worse.

...it has become obvious in recent months that the potential for a new basketball arena being built in Milwaukee in the short term is nonexistent. No public official wants to lead the effort during the current economic downturn and a political environment that has turned against public assistance for sports stadiums.

“Community discussion on (building a new arena) is at its very earliest stages and there is currently little consensus on the idea,” Bradley Center officials said in documents submitted to Gov. Jim Doyle recently. “Even if a decision would be made to move ahead on the issue, a new building would be seven to 10 years away, at best.”

Another way to put it: "The dam redneck rubes won't give me a brand-new building now--but maybe the fools will, in 10 years or so. Meantime, they should cover for my stupidity."

Lemme get this straight. The Bradley Center was a GIFT to Milwaukee. It was PAID FOR when the doors opened.

And the idiots who ran it never bothered to think about "renovations and maintenance" being built-in to rental charges?

Another TEA Party is due, folks.

HT: FoxPolitics