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Convention center and arena plans moving forward in Racine

Convention center and arena plans moving forward in Racine
Posted at 6:58 AM, Feb 10, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-11 11:57:27-05

Racine isn't getting a Milwaukee Bucks D-League team, but that's not thwarting the city's quest to build a new arena and hotel downtown.

“The hotel and convention center arena deal has always been about that order,” Racine Mayor John Dickert tells NewsRadio620 WTMJ. “The hotel has been something sorely needed here for a long time in the convention center space. We’ve never been able in Racine to hold conventions of any significant size because of that limitation. The arena part of it is really the part of it that adds life and vibrancy to the hotel as well as to downtown.”

That arena could be home to a USHL franchise. Dickert says it would also be able to host concerts with about a 5,000 seat maximum.

“We’re also looking at semi-pro football as well as semi-pro soccer. There are a lot of uses you can have.”

Dickert says though there is no timeline right now, studies have shown Racine is one of the more desired areas because of the city’s distance between Milwaukee and Chicago.

“We’re moving full speed ahead. We’ll be presenting some ideas to our council soon, and really look forward to having what we think is going to be a great anchor development in downtown.”

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