MILWAUKEE — A new music venue is no longer coming to the area adjacent to Henry Maier Festival Park, Milwaukee World Festival announced Friday.
"It's just disappointing to say the least," said Ben Koshick, a guitarist for local Milwaukee band, Tigera
Milwaukee World Festival along with FPC Live, a Madison-based concert promoter, made the announcement Friday not to pursue the original location for the music venue. A location that did not gain much support from residents and business owners in the third ward who would've lived right next to it.
"I'm always thinking about traffic coming in, parking," said CJ Chomeau, a resident of Harbor Front Condos.
"There was a lot of concern about this controversy that it would impact the way they live and their values of their residences down there," said Craig Peterson, a spokesperson for the Save the Third Ward group.
Wisconsin music promoter FPC Live initially announced the new indoor venue in December, saying the new facility would contain two venues that can hold 800 and 4,000 people. It also would've been a place where local artists big and small could come to play.
"Something like that would've been huge for the local music scene," said Koshick. We literally build our own stages when we go and play shows because there just aren't venues around.
FPC also shared a statement saying, "We remain committed to developing this state-of-the-art project in Milwaukee, preparing the city for the next several decades of live entertainment, and we will announce more details in due time."
According to our partners at the Milwaukee Business Journal, possible new locations for the venue include the former Bradley Center site adjacent to Fiserv Forum and the land on Water Street, north of East Knapp Street, where Marcus Theatres has considered developing a movie-theater complex.
"You're right in the entertainment district, you're right next to the arena, you have the infrastructure in place. You have restaurants, you have the bars, you have a lot of places to park, I mean it seems like an obvious site," said Mark Kass, the editor-in-chief for the Milwaukee Business Journal.
Previous Coverage:
- New music venues in the works next to Henry Maier Festival Park
- Proposed indoor music venue near Summerfest grounds draws mixed reactions from neighbors during meeting
After the announcement, local business owners and residents expressed mixed opinions.
A business owner in the Third Ward said it's the wrong location, expressing concerns over the amount of parking in the area.
Watch: Ben Koshick is a guitarist for a local band called Tigera. He's bummed that the proposed music venue has been pulled.
Other people said the venue would be an opportunity to witness Milwaukee thrive.
FPC and MWF have worked together in the past, partnering for the newly renovated American Family Insurance Amphitheater and BMO Harris Pavilion.
