Milwaukee Athletic Director Amanda Braun sat down with the3rdmanin.com to discuss the athletic department with several questions about the new Milwaukee baseball facility plans.
Here is an excerpt of the interview
Dan Zielinski III: Your deal for a new baseball stadium was announced at the end of 2014, last September you said you were still confident in that plan, where do you stand as of today with Mike Zimmerman, the owner of MKE Sports & Entertainment LLC, in your effort to get a new baseball stadium?
Amanda Braun: It will be in Franklin now. Ballpark Commons is what they’ve named it. It’s more expansive than just a stadium. They have an indoor facility for baseball. They are then do some other residential and mixed-use development as well. That’s their plan.
They’ve been moving through that process down in Franklin and working with the neighborhood and municipal government. It seems to be going along pretty well. They’ve gone through a couple of different approvals phases and in the next month there will be another one that they are getting ready for. It seems like it’s really positive so far.
DZ: Are you still confident a deal will get done?
AB: For us, if and when they get that facility done, we feel confident that we are going to have a deal with Mike Zimmerman, unless something unexpected pops up. We are very confident the deal will happen. It’s a matter of whether or not he can get his part done with his developmental group, which does sound like it’s going well.
DZ: You said last September that your priority was with MKE Sports & Entertainment LLC, but now that it has taken so long, have you explored other options for a baseball facility?
AB: We have heard from one or two other places about their ideas. Not ideal for us, but we continue to remain open to listening to anyone who wants to bring forward ideas and concepts.
DZ: Synthetic turf was installed prior to last season at Henry Aaron Field, is there anymore renovations that will be made to Henry Aaron Field?
AB: At this time we don’t have any plans. Nothing significant.
DZ: Being in the midwest where the weather has a big impact on the season, do you think once you get this new baseball facility it can build the fanbase and take the program to the next level?
AB: That’s an important component for that program, particularly around recruiting and generating some interest from fans. I think it will be a great help to that program.
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