New information has emerged on plans to demolish the BMO Harris Bradley Center, the soon-to-be former home of the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bucks are continuing with the construction of their new downtown arena, which is on schedule to open for the 2018-19 NBA season. That means that the current 2017-18 season is likely the Bucks’ last at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, so the team is moving forward with plans to demolish the venue.
Veit & Co. Inc has been tasked with dismantling the facility. The process will begin in the summer of 2018, after the venue hosts it last scheduled event. One thing that will not take place is an implosion, as the BMO Harris Bradley Center is in too close of proximity to surrounding structures–including UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and the new Bucks’ arena–according to Icon Venue Group executive vice president Marc Farha. More from The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Farha said it was important to get the demolition contractor named now so that the complicated project can be properly planned. The work will be underway as the Bucks’ new $524 million area celebrates its grand opening in the fall of 2018.
“They won’t be able to implode the building” because it stands so close to the new arena, historic Turner Hall and the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, Farha said.
“That’s an all-concrete building with steel on top,” he said of the Bradley Center.
A Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. convention is slated to be the final event at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. The Bucks will play their final regular season game at the venue on April 9. Once the venue is torn down, it is expected that the site will be redeveloped, though the Bucks have not announced redevelopment plans.
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