Milwaukee Mile in trouble? The latest deal intended to save the century-old Milwaukee Mile Speedway at State Fair Park puts more money in the hands of the real estate investors who signed on to rescue it, leaving the park with nearly $800,000 less a year to pay down its own $10 million deficit. But in return, it turns up the heat on Milwaukee Mile Holdings LLC and Chairman Craig Stoehr to make good on their plans to build a hotel and restaurant complex that park officials hope will buoy their struggling Wisconsin Exposition Center. And it adds new protections for a group of Wisconsin investors who hold a minority stake in Stoehr's venture. Both sides touted the revised contract, approved this past week by the park's board of directors and the state Building Commission, as the best way to preserve racing at the storied track and generate new revenue for the park.
"This really puts us on solid footing going forward, not just for the race track, but it also lets us proceed on the development," said Stoehr, whose group lost $3.6 million since taking over the Mile in December 2005. "We think the changes will make them break even or make money in a year or two," said Craig Barkelar, the fair park's deputy director and chief financial officer. "We want the hotel and restaurant," and the changes are expected to help accomplish that, Barkelar said. With the new contract in hand, Stoehr backed away from a threat to sue the park board over allegations that it misrepresented the Mile's financials and saddled investors with an unsafe grandstand, in part because it lacks a sprinkler system. "I don't at all think the grandstand is unsafe," said Stoehr, who called charges he levied late last year "ancient history." Under the new contract, the park cut the Mile's licensing fee from about $1.8 million to $1 million a year over the next 16 years. The original fee was set to cover all of the debt service for the $21 million grandstand completed in 2003, about $1.8 million a year; the cut means the fair park will now pick up nearly $800,000 of that. Under the new contract, the Mile also would lease 6.4 acres of state land for its new development - rather than buy 9.4 acres. But it must exercise its lease option by Dec. 31, a year earlier than the original contract required. While the deal gives the promoters an easier out if they choose to bail - three years' notice instead of five if they exercise their development option - it also ensures local investors a cut of the development profits, not just those from the riskier Mile. "This improves the chances that they'll get their original investment back and some kind of return," Barkelar said of the local investors, about 30 people who ponied up "from $25,000 up to a couple hundred thousand," according to Stoehr. "For the majority of those people, it was to give back to the community," Barkelar said. Stoehr said he has lined up a racing theme restaurant and is in the process of submitting franchise applications with a hotel chain, both of which would be built on the southeast corner of the fairgrounds along W. Greenfield Ave. He said he expects to go to the city with a site plan within 60 days. Stoehr has made similar projections in the past. But West Allis Economic Development Director John Stibal said he expects the project to begin after this year's State Fair in August. "All the big obstacles have been removed," said Stibal, whose community has been trying to snag a hotel for W. Greenfield Ave. for years. "It sounds like we've finally got something." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)(3-1-2008)
Milwaukee Mile plans all-you-can-eat area: Borrowing an idea used successfully in other sports venues, the Milwaukee Mile plans to create an all-you-can-eat section at the track this season. The track's new "Club Four" will feature unlimited brats, hamburgers, hot dogs, chips as well as soft drinks and beer in an all-encompassing ticket package. The club will be located in the Turn Four Terrace on the northwest side of the track. The packages will range from $40 for the Wisconsin All-Star 100 to $65 for the NASCAR Nationwide Series. IndyCar Series events will be $50 each. The Milwaukee Brewers offer a version of an all-you-can-eat section with the Dew Deck and the Mercedes-Benz Field Haus. But those sections are sold in groups. Club Four will be available for individual and group sales.(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)(1-9-2008)
Milwaukee Mile Installs SAFER Barriers: The Milwaukee Mile has taken another step in the direction of recent safety and facility improvements, with the installation of the SAFER Barrier System, an energy-dissipating system that has been fastened to the speedway’s existing concrete wall.(Milwaukee Mile PR)(3-22-2006)
Milwaukee gets SAFER: The Milwaukee Mile will have the SAFER "soft-wall" system in place by the end of April, if weather conditions are favorable to construction, a track spokesman said.(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)(2-3-2006)
New Milwaukee Mile Promoter: Wisconsin State Fair Park today announced that is has entered into an agreement with Milwaukee Mile Holdings LLC – an organization led by metro Milwaukee native and international sports marketing and real estate investment executive Craig Stoehr and Andrew Randall, former President of U.S. Bank in Wisconsin – as the new promoter of the Milwaukee Mile motor speedway. Greenberg and Stoehr signed the agreement today before a crowd of supporters, sponsors, investors and others at a special ceremony at the Wisconsin State Fair Park Exposition Center. Under the terms of the agreement, Milwaukee Mile Holdings has acquired the promotional rights at The Mile for 18 years, and will make annual payments to the State Fair Park of approximately $1.8 million per year. Milwaukee Mile Holdings has also been granted an option to acquire 9.35 acres of state-owned land adjacent to The Mile along Greenfield Avenue in exchange for enabling the State Fair Park to acquire a private parcel of land located within the Park grounds and making of certain improvements, including the expansion of gates and entrances. Preliminary plans for the 9.35-acre site include a hotel and retail complex, and potentially commercial and residential space. In addition, Milwaukee Mile Holdings announced that former NFL player and Green Bay Packers star defensive lineman Gilbert Brown is an investor in the company, and will join The Mile staff as the Director of New Business Development, where he will focus on new business initiatives and various community-related activities. Randall, as incoming President & CEO of the historic speedway, will oversee all day-to-day activities. He is a 30-year veteran of the financial services industry and a passionate sports fan who led U.S. Bank’s sponsorship of The Mile’s Champ Car World Series race, Miller Park and the Milwaukee Brewers, and the PGA’s Greater Milwaukee Open. There will be no ticket price increases for 2006. Full event and ticket information is available on the speedway’s website located at www.milwaukeemile.com.(Milwaukee Mile PR)(12-21-2005)
Kart Races at the Milwaukee Mile: The best kart racers in the Midwest will compete this weekend in the championship rounds of the 1st Annual Burris National Championship Indoor Racing Series, inside the Wisconsin Products Pavilion, located behind the turn four grandstands of The Milwaukee Mile. Both New Years Day and Sunday's events will offer a complete race program. Drivers from Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois will be competing in 18 classes, sanctioned by The International Racing Association, including Local Option classes.(more info at milwaukeemile.com)(12-30-2004)
NASCAR Tickets Now $5 At www.milwaukeemile.com: The Milwaukee Mile is offering family-friendly prices for race tickets to each of the speedway's four race weekends purchased exclusively through the speedway's improved web site, www.milwaukeemile.com. For example, reserved seats to the Friday night, June 25 "Black Cat(r) Fireworks 200" NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series are now priced at just $5 in north and south terrace bleacher seating, a 44% savings. All discounts apply to on-line ticket sales only, and are limited to seating capacity in specific sections within the grandstand and north and south terrace bleacher seating. These savings do not apply to tickets purchased through the racetrack's box office or phone sales. Season tickets to all event weekends start at an economical $99, with discounts offered to group ticket buyers. Race fans can obtain the same seats for all six days of Champ Car and IRL races through an Open Wheel partial-season ticket package, with a similar plan offered for NASCAR-ASA stock car race weekends. Purchases through www.milwaukeemile.com are for individual race day tickets only. Money-saving season ticket packages, partial season ticket packages, and pit & paddock pass transactions must still be conducted through The Milwaukee Mile ticket office in person or by calling (414) 453-8277. To view all Mile ticket plans, including fan hospitality packages, visit www.milwaukeemile.com.(Milwaukee Mile PR)(3-26-2004)
Milwaukee Gets OK: The Milwaukee Mile says the Wisconsin State Building Commission has given approval for $1.4 million worth of improvements before this year's racing season. The work is scheduled to include a new critical care building; a new concrete pit wall; new paving for the hot pit working area; extension of the safety fencing in front of the grandstand seating to 18 feet; installation of a 5-foot chain link fence to separate the hot pit road from the paddock area; construction of a permanent media center; and the purchase and installation of a new electronic leader board. The historic track is scheduled to host the Craftsman Truck Series on June 25 and the Busch Series on June 26..(NASCAR Scene Daily Newsletter)(1-24-2004)
Milwaukee to Light 'em up: NASCAR will follow in CART's tracks and run nighttime races at the Milwaukee Mile next year. Boosted by positive reaction last May to the first nighttime race in CART Champ Car history, the venerable track has shifted the timing on its NASCAR weekend, as well, taking both Craftsman Truck Series and Busch Series races under the lights in 2004. After months of discussion between Mile and NASCAR officials, the move became official Tuesday at a board of directors meeting for the State Fair Park, which owns the facility. The 200-mile NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race is now set for Friday, June 25, and the 250-mile Busch Series event for Saturday, June 26. The Mile had contemplated racing the trucks at night in the past as a way to boost attendance for that division. Discussions with NASCAR led to taking both races under the lights. CART rented the lights last season at a cost estimated at nearly $500,000. The Mile will pay Musco Lighting for its NASCAR weekend. Customers have already received ticket information with the old, afternoon race dates for NASCAR and will be provided updates soon. Also, the Mile plans to hold a meeting for neighbors to deal with questions and concerns about nighttime racing. In the 10 years since NASCAR returned to the Mile, the race weekend has at times coincided with the Winston Cup Series' Pepsi 400, a popular Saturday night race in Daytona Beach, FL. That won't happen in 2004 - Nextel Cup is in Sonoma, CA. Other race weekends on the Mile schedule next season, in addition to CART and NASCAR, are the Indy Racing League July 23-25 and American Speed Association Aug. 27-29.(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)(12-10-2003)
a look at the new Milwaukee Mile grandstands: the Milwaukee Mile is getting a refurb with new stands, looks nice.. The new grandstand will be ready for the CART race in early June. The top row will be 85 feet high. Unlike the old grandstand, the new
one will not be covered:
image taken by Don Kayser
Milwaukee Mile Changes: Jim Melvin, the general manager of the Milwaukee Mile for more than 10 years, has been dismissed, promoter Carl Haas said Thursday. Haas would not say when the decision was made, did not name a replacement and declined to comment on nearly all aspects of day-to-day operations at the track, one of the many racing-related businesses operated by the 72-year-old Illinois entrepreneur. Melvin declined comment Thursday night. Melvin's dismissal follows a spate of bad news surrounding State Fair Park. The facility, in the midst of a $160 million renovation, is projected to lose $850,000 for its fiscal year, not including a $2.3 million assessment levied by the state to help close its own budget shortfall. The renovation project includes $20.5 million to rebuild the racetrack bleachers and grandstand in time for the 2003 season. Nearly all seasonal workers have been laid off, and park management has been given the go-ahead to eliminate the positions of five full-time employees in a cost-saving measure. Among the reasons cited for the budget problems is that the Milwaukee Mile is expected to provide only about one-half of the projected $1.8 million, the park's share in racing revenue for the 2002 season. Melvin, a longtime motorsports marketing executive and the first president of CART, had served as general manager since Haas obtained the racing promotions rights at State Fair in a complex transaction before the 1992 season. During his tenure, Melvin oversaw the return of the NASCAR Busch Series to the track in 1993 after a seven-year hiatus. The Mile added the Craftsman Truck Series in its first season, 1995, and since then the NASCAR weekend has surpassed CART in terms of total attendance.(more at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)(1-10-2003)
Lights at Milwaukee? A decision is expected in the next couple of weeks on whether the Milwaukee Mile will play host to the first nighttime race in CART history. The plan cleared one hurdle Thursday, when the track's West Allis neighbors were briefed on the idea, and it faces another today, when the State Fair Park board of directors takes up the matter at its monthly meeting. Ultimately, though, the deciding factor is likely to be money, Jim Melvin, general manager for the Mile, said Monday. The one possible sticking point, though, is the cost of renting suitable lights, about $400,000, an expenditure Melvin said CART would have to cover. CART is scheduled to race at the Mile on the weekend of May 30, the seventh of 20 races. If it were to be held at night, the race would be scheduled for Saturday rather than Sunday. The other racing scheduled for the facility is a three-day NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Busch Series program set for the last weekend in June. Mile management had hoped to add an event or two, especially because the racetrack will celebrate its centennial anniversary next season. Discussions with the Indy Racing League were unsuccessful. The issue of a possible night race at the track is on the agenda for a Fair board meeting set to begin at 9:30 a.m. today at the Tommy G. Thompson Youth Center.(See more at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)(11-12-2002)
Milwaukee's stands come down: The grandstand at the Milwaukee Mile was imploded this week, triggered by old-time racer Frank Burany. After a few failed attempts, the explosions fired in rapid succession from Section R to Section A, dropping rotted wood, ancient shingles and smelly, green indoor-outdoor carpeting as designed. The new grandstand will be twice the height and far better sight lines than its predecessor. For a time, both cleanup of the demolition mess and the construction of the new grandstand will be under way simultaneously as crews work on the project in sections from south (Turn 1) to north. All concrete is expected to be poured this fall, and the prefabricated aluminum structure will then snap into place much like an erector set.(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)(9-20-2002)
Milwaukee Improves: In a letter dated Saturday and mailed Monday to current ticket-holders, the Mile promised to have 20,000 new, permanent bleacher seats in place for the coming season of racing at State Fair Park. According to the letter, the 67-year-old main grandstand will remain in place for one more season but will be replaced the following year. That would coincide with the track's 100th anniversary. For the second consecutive year, ticket prices have not been raised.(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)(12-18-2001)
New Milwaukee Sponsor: General Nutrition Centers (GNC Live Well) announced it has signed a three-year contract to be the title sponsor of the NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events at The Milwaukee Mile starting this June when the BGN and CTS races will run there(Keystone Marketing PR)(5-24-2001)
Milwaukee Mile News: The midway and main entrance to Milwaukee State Fair Park(where the Milwaukee Mile racetrack is located) in West Allis would face I-94 under renovation plans the State Fair Board approved unanimously Wednesday. Wisconsin Gov. Tommy G. Thompson further encouraged plans to upgrade the 107-year-old park in his "state of the state" address, outlining his vision for "the largest renovation since its inception." Thompson said the 200-acre fairgrounds' three-phase renovation would eventually include a new racetrack, a "marketplace" with restaurants and shops, and an exposition hall(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)(1-30-2000)
Too Loud: The screech of race cars at the Milwaukee Mile has some neighbors so on edge and irate that Mayor Jeannette Bell said she will demand changes be made in how the State Fair Park Board negotiates its racing contract. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)(5-27-1999)
