Mark McCune's district as Washington County Supervisor includes sections in the southwestern portion of the Village of Richfield and he is Washington County’s representative on the new regional cultural needs task force. He said Tuesday at the Washington County Courthouse that he was surprised how little the 48-member group talked about replacing the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
“Predominantly, the discussion was on the needs of the area,” Mark McCune, county supervisor from the town of Erin, told the County Board’s Executive Committee. “It was an eye-opener for me.”
The task force has the job of investigating funding and facility needs for the region’s cultural, artistic and entertainment institutions and developing a strategy to maintain them. The 25-yearold Bradley Center is one of many facilities being looked at, McCune said.
So far, both Racine and Ozaukee counties have stated opposition to the creation of a regional tax to pay for a new or expanded Bradley Center.
Both McCune and County Board Chairman Herb Tennies of West Bend said it is premature to pass any resolution concerning the task force until it made a recommendation.
He said it would be best to wait for the task force to complete its mission before the County Board takes a stand.
“We want to have a complete resolution,” he added, “when we know what they want to do.”
During the nearly twohour meeting, McCune said, the task force discussed the Bradley Center for about 10 minutes. The rest of the session was spent on discussing other “cultural attractions” in Milwaukee County, he said, which include the zoo, museums, historical societies, park systems, the War Memorial and performing arts organizations.
Friday’s meeting centered on Milwaukee County’s attractions, but the task force will hear reports on the other six counties included in the regional study, he said.
It could take up to a year for the task force to complete this information-gathering phase, McCune said, before it begins discussions on recommendations.
The Public Policy Forum is providing data reports to the task force.