The Milwaukee Preservation Alliance is currently conducting a survey regarding the construction of a new, multi-purpose arena that would house the Milwaukee Bucks, Marquette University and potentially other sports teams and events.
According to the MPA, the survey is being conducted to "help us develop a strategy that is aligned with our mission and the interests of our membership.
"It was the idea that buildings might be demolished, then the board of the Milwaukee Preservation Alliance started to have a conversation about what our role in the debate should be," said Dawn McCarthy, the board president.
The MPA's immediate membership was polled initially, and the response prompted a broader survey.
"Where we ended up as a board is we wanted to find out if people think there should be a larger public conversation, a larger public discussion about building a new arena," McCarthy said.
You can participate in the brief, eight-question survey by clicking here.
The survey will close at midnight on Thursday, Dec. 18.
According to the survey, the MPA says six sites are currently being considered for the arena:
- Park East corridor
- Land immediately north of the Bradley Center
- UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and Milwaukee Theater
- Journal Communications Block and UWM Arena
- North 4th Street and West Wisconsin Avenue
- North 2nd and West Michigan Streets
McCarthy said the MPA will determine a course of action once the results of the survey are reviewed.
"Based on what the results of the survey are, we will determine if we should be advocates for any position and what that position would be," she said. "We're going to wait until the results of the survey are in and then it will probably require a conversation with the board of directors to determine how we should follow up."
Jim Owczarski is an award-winning sports journalist and comes to Milwaukee by way of the Chicago Sun-Times Media Network.
A three-year Wisconsin resident who has considered Milwaukee a second home for the better part of seven years, he brings to the market experience covering nearly all major and college sports.
To this point in his career, he has been awarded six national Associated Press Sports Editors awards for investigative reporting, feature writing, breaking news and projects. He is also a four-time nominee for the prestigious Peter J. Lisagor Awards for Exemplary Journalism, presented by the Chicago Headline Club, and is a two-time winner for Best Sports Story. He has also won numerous other Illinois Press Association, Illinois Associated Press and Northern Illinois Newspaper Association awards.
Jim's career started in earnest as a North Central College (Naperville, Ill.) senior in 2002 when he received a Richter Fellowship to cover the Chicago White Sox in spring training. He was hired by the Naperville Sun in 2003 and moved on to the Aurora Beacon News in 2007 before joining OnMilwaukee.com.
In that time, he has covered the events, news and personalities that make up the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Hockey League, NCAA football, baseball and men's and women's basketball as well as boxing, mixed martial arts and various U.S. Olympic teams.
Golf aficionados who venture into Illinois have also read Jim in GOLF Chicago Magazine as well as the Chicago District Golfer and Illinois Golfer magazines.
