MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers submitted their 350-page proposal to the City of Milwaukee Thursday, asking for 35 percent occupancy at American Family Field for home games, according to MLB.com.
The proposal asks for the capacity to be approved in time for the team's April 1 season opener against the Twins.
That could mean between 14,500 and 16,000 fans and employees allowed in the stadium, and to only increase capacity from there, the report from MLB.com states.
The submission of the proposal comes after months of discussions between the Brewers and City of Milwaukee health officials. MLB states the team also hopes to host the health officials next week for a walkthrough of AmFam Field regarding COVID-19 safety measures.
“This will absolutely be safe,” Brewers principal owner, Mark Attanasio, told MLB. “We're going to use every best practice for spacing and so forth, and we've had a lot of experience with those who preceded us in having live events. I'm quite confident.”
Brewers president of business operations, Rick Schlesinger, said the plan addresses concessions, parking, staffing, seating, bathrooms and other aspects, according to the report.
Schlesinger says they are hopeful a decision will be made by the end of February. The Brewers will need about a month to prepare the ballpark.
In interviews with TMJ4 News, owners of bars and restaurants around the park expressed their excitement.
"I’m excited, we’ve been waiting obviously over a year for this, so looking really forward to April 1," said Dave Grycan of The Dugout. "We’re pumped, we’re ready to go."
Before the pandemic, Grycan describes the scene on Bluemound Road as Las Vegas, with tons of people going from bar to bar. This year he knows it won't be like that, but he's optimistic for the future.
"I think people are ready to come back out, people are chomping at the bit, it’s been almost a year so," Grycan said.
