Racine County supervisors are taking a closer look at a previous study for the Racine Events Center, a proposed downtown arena.
In order to lure a Milwaukee Bucks D-League team and potentially a USHL franchise, the City of Racine and Racine County are proposing a $46 million venue that would also have an attached hotel. Racine mayor John Dickert has been a strong advocate of the project, citing its potential for job creation.
Over recent weeks, Dickert has called on Racine County to speed up its vetting of the project. The Bucks are expected to select either Racine, Oshkosh, or Sheboygan in the near future, and Dickert fears that Racine will lose out if the arena does not come to fruition soon.
However, some county supervisors have expressed a desire to take more time with the process. During a meeting on Tuesday with Rob Hunden of Hunden Strategic Planners, officials on both sides of the argument expressed their views on the project. The end result showed a consensus to continue considering the plan, but no clear timeline emerged. More from The Journal Times:
And as for the county’s overall support for the plan, County Executive Jonathan Delagrave said that Tuesday’s meeting showed that county officials will continue to do their due diligence with the proposal.
“I think what you saw is the county really did its homework on the study and you had 14 or 15 engaged supervisors ask relevant questions,” Delagrave said. “That tells me that we are walking through this process with an open mind.”
Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold has previously offered his support for the arena, saying that he would help bring a USHL to the Wisconsin city if the project is approved.
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