Since it was announced that the Bucks would be building a new arena downtown, speculation has swirled about the location. Numerous reports have been published across Milwaukee media outlets about where the arena could go. One of the most promising options appears to be the site of the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. Situated one block north of the Bradley Center, the Panther Arena was renamed this summer as part of UWM’s expanded efforts to increase its branding around Milwaukee. David Uihlein Jr., son of Jane Bradley Pettit who helped fund the creation of the Bradley Center, recommended that the Arena and the Milwaukee Theatre should be torn down to build the Bucks’ new home.
To add more fear to the fire, the new owners of the Bucks are in talks to possibly buy the Journal Communications building and create a stadium covering the area spanning the Theater, the Panther Arena, and the Journal building.
The news that the Bucks want to tear down the Panther arena for their own arena has not sat well with Panther fans. The arena means a lot to UWM, and not just for basketball.
“We certainly don’t want to lose the arena. It’s going to be the future home, not just for UWM Panther basketball, but all that we do for our students in terms of concerts and commencement,” said UWM Athletic Director, Amanda Braun. To her and the university, the arena is the giant billboard in the middle of downtown.
The good news for UW-Milwaukee is that Frank Gimbel, the chair of the Wisconsin Center district that runs the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena along with the Milwaukee Theater and Wisconsin Center, has said that he will only approve a plan to demolish the arena if the Bucks help pay for an expansion of the convention center and a new 8,000 seat arena to house teams such as the Panthers and Milwaukee Wave.
Last week, Jimmy Lemke of PantherU started a Change.org petition to protest selling the Arena space and letting it be torn down for the new Bucks arena. Lemke, like many Panther fans, feels that both arenas and teams can exist simultaneously, even if no one outside of UWM is willing to help the team. As of late Sunday afternoon, the petition has 792 of the 1000 signatures it needs before it is submitted to Bucks owners, Marc Lasry and Wes Edens.
The petition has picked up steam since its inception. The UWM Student Association caught wind of it and put their support behind it. They have begun to plan a rally outside of the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Wednesday , November 19th before the Panthers home game vs. IUPUI. In order to raise general student awareness for the rally and the petition to keep the arena, the school sent a mass email to the student body on behalf of Student Association President, Ryan Sorenson.
“I think the arena kind of epitomizes UW-Milwaukee and shows off our presence downtown and having the UWM Arena really strengthens the student life on campus. It really attracts more students and more visibility to UWM in the downtown area,” said Sorenson on Sunday, following the Student Association Senate meeting. During the meeting, he made a public notice about the rally and encouraged senators to join him at the rally to show that they are the voice of the students.
Although the Panthers are styling themselves as the underdog, it remains to be seen where their resistance can go. The Bucks #OwnTheFuture campaign is being highlighted as the redemption of Milwaukee’s downtown district, and, although a new arena is instrumental in keeping an NBA franchise in Milwaukee, UWM and its fans won’t stand idly by and let their stadium be bulldozed without a fight.