9/2/2023 0 Comments Cast of limbo 2015![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() But the change of governance for the Marcus Center has no obvious benefit for Abele, unless his goal is to eliminate county funding of the Marcus Center, which he denied in an interview with Urban Milwaukee editor Bruce Murphy.īut some some County Board members have questioned why the county should continue financial support of the Marcus Center, as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. In return for supporting the arena deal and pledging money, Abele was given expanded and controversial new powers as county executive, including the ability to sell county property without county board approval. They were also barred from speaking before the state Joint Finance Committee when others involved in the deal were invited to present. When asked if Abele or his staff had consulted Marcus leadership before the transfer, Matthews said “Like you, I read it in the paper.” WCD representatives had expressed similar frustration when they were learned about WCD’s multiple roles in the arena deal (including massive borrowing for it). Legislators’ eagerness to go on vacation may also have been a factor. Jonathan Brostoff, who voted against the arena bill, said representatives were told the goal was to pass the bill without any delay. So how did the Marcus Center become entangled in this arena deal? Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D., Kenosha), one of nine elected officials on the new 17-member WCD board, recently said, “There was not a great deal of discussion” about the transfer and that it was apparently included in the state law at Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele’s request.Īlthough worried Milwaukee citizens contacted legislators before the arena-bill vote requesting that they remove the unexplained Marcus provision, the Assembly leadership would not introduce any amendments. Taxpayers will also fund the arena through city, county, and state commitments totaling $250 million (about $400 million with interest). The new law turns the WCD into a “super-district” in order to tap the WCD’s taxing authority to borrow $93 million for arena construction. The WCD currently manages the Wisconsin Center convention hall, the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and Milwaukee Theatre. But the law also included a provision mandating transfer of an “unencumbered” Marcus Center to the Wisconsin Center District “as soon as practicable.” Neither condition was defined: unencumbered is presumed to mean “without debt,” but could it also mean without needing any major repairs? In July, the state law passed to provide funding for the new Bucks arena put the arena under the control of the WCD, where it will benefit from taxes (like the hotel, car rental and food and beverage taxes) collected by the district. The Marcus Center gets county funding and charitable dollars and is run by its own board as a non-profit arts organization, but is now supposed to come under the governance of the Wisconsin Center District (WCD), and no one seems to know just how that will work. The county-owned facility has a long history (since 1969) as a key player in the city’s arts scene, where groups like the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Milwaukee Ballet have long performed. Mathews made this statement at meeting last week of the Milwaukee County Parks, Energy and Environment Committee Committee, where the fate of the Marcus Center was on the agenda. “We’re in limbo,” says Marcus Center for the Performing Arts president and CEO Paul Mathews. ![]()
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