Future of U.S. Cellular Arena

[thegreengull]

Another option for the arena situation is for the university to buy and renovate the U.S. Cellular Arena. Is this the best option, I don’t know, it’s definitely up for debate. The Cell was built in 1950, is it even worth renovating to fit the needs of the university? Well, here are a few ways that the arena could be renovated to make it more modern and functional.

• Build a new main entrance atrium on the location of the current Kilbourn Entrance–Lobby on Kilbourn Ave.
  
  
• Build luxury suites into both of the section 400 seating areas.
  
  
• Eliminate the top few rows of seating in both end zones
  
  
• Install new chairs for the entire arena. The seats should be the color black, which goes with Milwaukee’s school colors.
  
  
• Renovate concourses and hallways. The floors, walls, and ceilings should all be redone to create a more modern, and open feel to the arena.
  

In the picture above, the gold box marks the current main entrance, the Kilbourn Entrance-Lobby, to the U.S. Cellular Arena. A brand new, state of the art atrium could be built in the location of the current Kilbourn Entrance-Lobby.

In the picture above, the brown box represents a new luxury suite section that can be built into the both of the 400 seating areas. Also, the gray lines represent the top few rows of seating in both end zones being eliminated.

In the picture above, the brown box represents the new luxury seating section, while the gray line again represents the top few rows of seating in both end zones being eliminated.

In the picture above, the brown box represents the new luxury seating section, while the gray line again represents the top few rows of seating in both end zones being eliminated.

[ghostofdylan]

The place is just flatly too big for our basketball needs.

[ricestillfumbled]

I feel like after this transformation the arena turns into a lower quality resch center. And you have to add the purchase price to the cost. I think building from scratch in a location TBa would be a lot more efficient

[BBFran]

I really enjoy the creative thinking, but we'd be saddled with an archaic white elephant any way you look at it, and it would be three miles away from where we need it. The upkeep cost alone would probably be so significant that our own athletic department would be tempted to schedule Disney on Ice ahead of the Panthers to make a buck.

The only realistic path forward for the program is to have our own home, on or very near campus. I truly believe that.

[gman2]

I don't think the arena would be an archaic white elephant after a renovation, I do think it would simply be too big for the needs of the program, and the cost might be too high. Remember that thing called history and nostalgia that a certain outdated facility in Madison has? The Arena also has that, though the history and nostalgia belong to the Bucks and Warriors. The Arena is still a nice facility, I don't know why people keep bashing it. At least it doesn't have uncomfortable bench seating and beams blocking the view like the Field House.

[thegreengull]

Thanks everyone for the great feedback. I got the idea from an old tweet from Detroit AD Keri Gaither, courtesy of PantherU.com.

Here’s the tweet from Jan. 13, “UW-Milwaukee considering buying US Cellular Center & renovating or building a new $60M arena & athletic building on campus. Nice options!”

Here’s the link: pantheru.wordpress.com/page/10/

[BBFran]

Don't get me wrong -- I think the Cell is the best pure basketball arena in the state. But its infrastructure is archaic and its overhead high. And simply put, it's in the wrong place.

[panther9193]

I like the fact that all options are being considered. I hope that the possibility of negotiating a more attractive lease would also be under consideration. I don't buy that comments that the Cell is in the wrong place as it has never been proven that moving back to campus will bring in more students. The games at the Klotsche the past few years would give evidence to the contrary. Building an arena on the existing campus in my mind would be the worst alternative as there is nothing around the campus as far as bars and restaurants. All you would do is drive away the paying customers. Actually, I think students should be required to purchase season tickets for a nominal fee ($25-$30/season?). Part of the problem with student attendance now is that there is no investment lost if they don't go to games. For those that pay for season tickets, they may be more likely to attend the games rather than be "out the money". Either way, other than for "big games", student attendance couldn't get much worse.

It is possible that buying the Cell may not be the most cost-effective option, but a feasibility study would need to be done to determine that. For those who think it's too big, seating would be reduced if the plan suggested at the beginning of this thread were implemented and the upper level seats were converted to luxury suites. I would guess that would drop seating to 8000+ which I think is a good size. It's quite possible the Wisconsin Center District may not be interested in selling it either.

The "Cambridge Gardens" idea is a very interesting alternative as it would be closer to campus (for those that want that) and provides many choices for pre and postgame activities. The "Cambridge Gardens" idea would also require a study to determine if it would be more cost-effective to reuse parts of the existing buildings or tear them down completely and build new. It also assumes UWM could buy the buildings and land to begin with and that the neighborhood would allow this to be built.

[PantherU]

Seating would not be the issue. The SIZE of the building is the issue. Take out four thousand seats and you're still playing in a cavern.

[jhart05]

Rip out the street to the North of the Library and put it right there.

Connect it thru skywalks to the library and the dorms that are over there.

It should be big enough that those skywalks won't be that long.

Granted it's been quite awhile since I've driven or walked on that street. So I might be thinking there is more room there than memory serves.

[BBFran]

Can't do it jhart -- that's right where Chapman Hall stands, and it's not going anywhere. To me the best "on campus" sites would be the Hartford Avenue School site (forget it -- that gets you into a row with MPS and the community, and you'd have to add the huge cost of demolition) or the Kunkle Center site at the northwest corner of Maryland and Kenwood. But I presume that site is being jealously guarded for future academic building construction.

As has been said before, this building has the potential for being the biggest billboard ever built for the University. The idea of cramming it into the Norris site is very unappealing.

I would MUCH rather have the building on the Kenwood Campus, but the paucity of realistic potential sites makes the discussion of possible locations near North and the river worthwhile.

The idea of the Cell as a permanent home is a complete non-starter, in my opinion. We shouldn't be there one year longer than absolutely necessary.

[mwu]

the Kunkle Center is the future location of the Kenwood IRC (Interdisciplinary Research Center) currently in the design phase; should begin construction by late 2013 or 14.

I am against a Norris Site.

As for your plans greengull, they are a bit simplistic and Jimmy brings up a good point about the cavernous space which would need to be addressed. But if this is a serious option for the University it certainly is one that should be considered. The arena COULD be made a much more intimate environment. If a North ave. location is out of the picture and a complete overhaul of the arena is comparable to building new I'd go with the arena.

One thing that would've helped the downtown location is if the new engineering campus would have been planned for a portion of the park-east, but that ship has sailed.

[panther9193]

www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/blog/2012/02/could-uwm-buy-the-us-cellular-arena.html

[BBFran]

The idea of UWM paying $50-60 million to buy the Cell is so ridiculous I can imagine Frank grinning from ear to ear when he said it. For that kind of money we could build one hell of a modern, on-campus facility.

[skrapheap]

Mar 1, 2012 10:22:50 GMT -6 BBFran said:

The idea of UWM paying $50-60 million to buy the Cell is so ridiculous I can imagine Frank grinning from ear to ear when he said it. For that kind of money we could build one hell of a modern, on-campus facility.

If the Athletic Department was able to raise that kind of money, in Rick Costello's shoes i'd build the kind of arena that's been discussed (for considerably less than $50M) and ask the donors if i could plow the rest into endowed athletic scholarships. That and not paying exorbitant rates to lease the Cell would not only take care of any budget deficit, but would also allow more money to promote the program to the public.