Time to create a new overall athletics facility.Originally Posted by Jimmy Lemke
Think of the Al Center at MU but bigger and nicer for basketball. Create seating capacity of about 7,000. The facility would serve as both a game and practice facility (at MU there is another gym below the court that is visible from Wells Street).
As part of the overall athletics building, include facilities for baseball with a new baseball field on the site. The back side of the basketball facility could open up into the baseball facility. Shared restroom facilities and a common concession area used by both the basketball / volleyball and baseball teams. Same overall entrance into an atrium that serves as the entrance for both basketball and baseball. Building houses all athletic offices, etc.
Need to show a committment to athletics and to something that would be of pride to Milwaukee students and alum. A top notch facility would be a great start. If Milwaukee had something like this already in the works, a conference upgrade would surely be possible.
Problem with the Cell - what if the maintenance costs run $500,00 to $1 million in a given year on the place? If UW-Milwaukee owns the Cell there could be a big financial risk due to the upkeep of an aging facility.
Why build a practice facillty if the school would do Loyola-style arena. Could the men's & women's teams practice and play the home games at the new Loyola-style arena?
Goose85- The Al Center is great, but that building didn't get enough money to be build untill the Final Four run in 2003.
Last edited by MU/Panther; 02-12-2013 at 01:52 PM.
Someone here (Jimmy?) probably knows more than me, but the Cell has been maintained very well considering its age and had major renovations not that long ago. If there's any reason for not acquiring the Cell, that's not it.
Any facility is going to have upkeep costs, no matter if it's the Kress in GB and 5 years old or Hinkle at BU and 90. There are upkeep costs with the Klotsche Center; like any building, it has plumbing, electric, lighting, heating, air conditioning, and more to keep it running.
What the Cell does to offset those costs, if we were to own it, would be that it allows us to bring in more than just basketball. There is no venue of its size in Milwaukee; the Bradley Center is 8,000 more, and everything else is 4,000 or less. That 11,000 seating capacity allows the university to pursue a lot of different promotions that are too big to always play the small venues and too small to easily fill the BMOBC. One of our (now former) donors promoted a Ludacris concert in Madison a few years ago at the Coliseum in Madison; had we done it over, we'd have loved to put it on at the Cell.
I know that facilities can help boost department funds considerably. Discussions with people around the UNI program tell me that they see basketball as somewhat of a hindrance because it limits the dates that they can pursue musical acts.
Think of all the stuff we could fit in there. MMA events, lesser wrestling promotions like TNA...musicians from all genres. If UWM were to own the Cell, it could promote the Cell year-round, just funneling tons of cash into the athletic department (which is where the profits would go).
I've talked directly with several state legislators about changing ownership of the Cell to the university. They say that the main obstacle is the taxing authority that the WCD now holds would be in jeopardy if they lost the Cell. If there could be some way we could negotiate the lowering of the tax that the WCD collects (tourism tax, on hotels/travel etc.) to make sure they still have money to run the convention center and the theater, I don't see how any party doesn't pull the trigger - remember, the WCD is non-profit.
- Scott Walker and the GOP get to trumpet how they lowered the tourism tax to encourage more visitors to Milwaukee.
- The Democrats get to help higher education at UWM extricate itself from a debt.
- The WCD still has the money to run the facilities it "owns," while taking a big load off their shoulders.
- The university gets a home for its basketball program, graduation and a place where it can make serious cash to pay down its athletic debt.
- The community gets real competition between the BMOBC and the Cell for acts, bringing more entertainment to the city.
Really, is there anyone who would disapprove? Frank Gimbel, for sure, but that old codger was probably old enough to be a foreman when they built the darn place.
Can we please push for this. Like push hard for this. Like everyone email everybody they know in the athletic department, donors, congressmen, your moms friends cousin who knows somebody, all the AD canidates, bigfoot. It seems insane to me that this isnt the number one goal. I mean i think about all of the ways that UWM could profit from being able to rent out a space of that magnitude and can't beleive that this isn't priority. A space that could help offset huge amounts of debt if handled correctly seems like a no-brainer for UWM Athletics/UWM in general. Are us fans the only ones that see this?!
One of the problems the Cell has now is that incoming acts bid the Cell against the Bradley Center to get the lowest price. If the Cell was the cash cow it is being portrayed here, then why would the WCD ever want to allow it to leave their control?
What price would UW-Milwaukee be willing to pay? Who would own land rights, would the city of Milwaukee own it with some type of lease agreement, or would UW-Milwaukee own the land?
Would owning the Cell get any more fans to come to games?
Having a space like the cell to rent out is a big deal for colleges. Look at NIU and UIC and all of the concerts they do during the year. I mean even if fans arent alsways there if we own the cell we are still earning revenue from things other than sports that we dont even have the opportunity for with our current situation.
It wouldn't be up to them. It would be a bipartisan state congress measure. The WCD isn't in major debt. UWM Athletics is. Need to make the latter, with hundreds of student-athletes and 50~ employees, viable for the future. WCD exists only to run the Convention Center and Theater; both will be used tons. The Cell not being used nearly enough; perhaps MKE Athletics can do better. We can low-ball the hell out of the BMOBC. I didn't say the
The State of Wisconsin owns the land and will remain so. The WCD doesn't pay its daddy rent and neither would we. Personally, I don't think we should pay a dollar. The WCD, as a non-profit state entity has taxing authority. They don't need to be compensated money. Why would we essentially have the State of Wisconsin pay the State of Wisconsin money? I've got $1 if they need it.
We averaged more than 4,000 per game the last two seasons, more than the Klotsche Center holds. So yes, I'd say so. That's not all:
- Recruits would be able to see a renovated Cell (or even just owning it) as commitment of the university to athletics.
- Money from the $25 student arena fee would go to buying and renovating the Cell.
- Bigger teams would be willing to come to the Cell than Klotsche. Wisconsin, Marquette not going to give a 2-for-1 to play at Klotsche. Wisconsin has said they'll play in the KC but no way it'll be an equitable contract. Marquette's been open to a 2-for-1 in the past, but I've heard they don't even want to go to the KC.
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