Opened in 2018, the Fiserv Forum is the home of the Milwaukee Bucks, Marquette University Men’s Basketball, and an array of other sports and entertainment events. It is located at 1111 Vel R. Phillips Avenue, directly north of the site of the BMO Harris Bradley Center, which it replaced as Milwaukee’s primary sports and entertainment arena. Construction started on the $500 million arena, funded half by Bucks team owners and half by state and local taxpayers, in June of 2016. Fiserv Inc., a Brookfield-based financial services company, purchased twenty-five-year naming rights for the 714,000 square foot, $524 million arena.[1]
The Fiserv Forum’s architectural design attracted considerable comment. On the exterior, weathered zinc panels bend around the north side of the structure over a glass atrium entranceway. The interior design uses reclaimed wood and Cream City brick, paying homage to what lead design firm Populous referred to as, “Milwaukee’s built heritage.” The Fiserv Forum’s environmentally friendly building techniques also earned it the title of the world’s first bird-friendly arena.[2]
The Fiserv Form is envisioned as the backbone for a thirty-acre entertainment block, formally known as the Deer District. It is the latest urban revitalization project attempting to create a tourism-centered cultural district Downtown west of the Milwaukee River. In the early 1980s, Milwaukee’s vision for downtown concentrated on a development known as the Milwaukee Brewery District, which never came to full fruition. The Fiserv Forum and the thirty-acre Deer District stand as the largest development project ever undertaken in downtown Milwaukee.[3] The Fiserv Forum was an integral piece in securing Milwaukee as the host city of the 2020 Democratic National Convention.[4]
Footnotes [+]
- ^ “Wisconsin Governor Announces Deal for New $500 Million Milwaukee Bucks Arena,” Chicago Tribune, June 2, 2015, accessed June 1, 2019; Tim Newcomb, “Milwaukee’s Fresh Design of New Fiserv Forum,” Forbes, September 3, 2018, accessed June 1, 2019; James B. Nelson, “Milwaukee Bucks and Fiserv Inc. Strike 25-Year Naming Rights Deal for New Downtown Arena,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 26, 2018, accessed June 2, 2019; “Fact Sheet,” Fiserv Forum website, accessed June 2, 2019; “The Vision,” Fiserv Forum website, accessed June 3, 2019; Rich Kirchen, “So How Much Will the Milwaukee Bucks Arena Cost You? Here’s the Answer,” Milwaukee Business Journal, August 28, 2015, accessed June 15, 2019; Arena Information, Fiserv Forum website, last accessed July 15. 2019; Fiserv Forum Opens, National Basketball Association website, last accessed July 15, 2019.
- ^ “Fiserv Forum Is the World’s First Bird-Friendly Arena,” NBA.com, accessed June 10, 2019.
- ^ Tim Newcomb, “Fiserv Forum Anchors Fresh Activation of 30-Acre Milwaukee Development,” Forbes April 2, 2019, accessed June 10, 2019; “About,” DeerDistrict.com accessed June 12, 2019; Jeramy Jannene, “The Milwaukee Brewery District,” Urban Milwaukee, September 1, 2012, accessed June 12, 2019; Dennis R. Judd, ed., The Infrastructure of Play: Building the Tourist City (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 2003); “The Vision,” Fiserv Forum website accessed June 3, 2019; Newcomb, “Milwaukee’s Fresh Design of New Fiserv Forum.”
- ^ Andrew Weiland, “Fiserv Forum a Huge Success,” Milwaukee BizTimes, May 13, 2019, accessed June 5, 2019 https://www.biztimes.com/2019/industries/arts-entertainment-sports/fiserv-forum-a-huge-success/, now available at https://biztimes.com/fiserv-forum-a-huge-success/, last accessed July 15, 2019; Bill Glauber and Mary Spicuzza, “Milwaukee Wins Tight Race to Host the 2020 Democratic National Convention,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 11, 2019, accessed June 10, 2019.
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