Bullfrogs introduce new plans for Green Bay outdoor events center
GREEN BAY (WLUK) -- The owners of the Green Bay Bullfrogs have introduced a revamped proposal for an outdoor event center in the city’s downtown.
The changes come about six months after aldermen asked to see a better plan.
The stadium plan is just part of what would be a new entertainment district called "The Shipyard."
An Anduzzi's restaurant and an indoor concert venue are being pitched as attachments to the project.
“The Shipyard” site is just north of the Mason Street Bridge, on the western edge of the Fox River.
“It's a parcel the city has owned for going on 40 years and nothing has happened there quite yet,” said Conor Caloia, the COO of Big Top Baseball, the ownership group for the Bullfrogs.
The stadium would be programmed 180 days a year: 36 days for Bullfrogs baseball, 90 days for West High School athletics, four to six days for 5,000 to 8,000-person capacity outdoor concerts. A minor league soccer team would also play there.
The indoor concert venue would hold 2,000 people. Mark Skogen, CEO of Festival Foods, would own the venue. The concert venue would be independent from Festival Foods.
“I think it's important to mention the restaurant, the concert venue, none of this happens without the stadium,” said Caloia. “The stadium is the catalyst. That's the first thing that comes.”
The stadium's price tag is $9 million. The Bullfrogs would put in $1 million. The team's owners want the city to put in $8 million. The Bullfrogs would pay back $4 million of that through a 20-year lease.
“At this point its intriguing,” said Zima. “I'm happy to look at it. None of us have seen the numbers at all yet, just that the Bullfrogs want us to build a stadium for them.”
City leaders are negotiating with developers on building 120 to 160 housing units on five acres north of the stadium site. The city hopes the two projects will spur new mixed-use development on the other side of Broadway. There is also a plan to use city money to enhance homes in the area.
“Our hope is the stadium kind of provides that barrier from the coal piles and kind of provides an end cap to South Broadway and really spurs additional economic development,” said Caloia.
The city's redevelopment authority okayed a term sheet for the stadium project, which will need full city council support.
The Anduzzi's restaurant, and indoor concert venue, will be separate, private development agreements with the city.
