Milwaukee Bucks' donations of Bradley Center equipment will help Habitat build new homes

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The planned conversion of State Street's remaining one-way stretch to two-way traffic will improve development prospects for the BMO Harris Bradley Center site.

A sophisticated system to manage electric power interruptions, luxury box furnishings and 15 toilets are among the items that local groups will receive when the BMO Harris Bradley Center closes.

The Milwaukee Bucks have arranged for the unusual collection of items to be scavenged and delivered to the electrical workers union, Habitat for Humanity and Milwaukee Public Schools.

The Bucks take control of the Bradley Center later this summer as part of the team's move to the new $524 million arena just to the north.

Demolition of the 30-year-old Bradley Center will begin later this year, and as part of that process the items will be removed and reused by the local groups.

"It's addition by subtraction," said Bucks president Peter Feigin. He estimated the value of the items that will be donated to be "well into the seven figures."

Feigin said the Bucks spent two years evaluating the Bradley Center equipment and furnishings and determining how it could help local groups.

Last week, the Bradley Center sold off a collection of memorabilia that it owns, including instruments autographed by artists such as Prince. The auction raised about $160,000, and the money will be used to help shut down the facility.

Bradley Center electronics equipment will be used for training for apprentices and journeymen electricians, said Dean Warsh, business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 494.

Among the items that the union will receive is a new uninterrupted power supply system.

"When power to a building goes down, this kicks in," Warsh said.

There's also a collection of wireless access points for WiFi service and antennas that ensure adequate cellular phone coverage inside the arena.

"These are very costly things and when we get something like this, it's really great," Warsh said. "To us, this stuff is priceless."

Milwaukee Public Schools will receive doors, mirrors, bathroom stall partitions, toilets and wash stations, the Bucks said.

For Habitat, the pieces of the Bradley Center luxury boxes will find their way into the group's three area ReStore shops and online sales efforts. Some will be marketed as having come from the Bucks' suites or locker room, said executive director Brian Sonderman.

ReStore sales generate about $500,000 a year in profit for the Milwaukee Habitat and are an important and steady revenue stream for the nonprofit group, Sonderman said. The stores sell building materials, appliances and furnishings.

Habitat volunteers will spend three weeks in September at the Bradley Center doing the "deconstruction work," Sonderman said.

"We feel like this is definitely something we can handle," he said.

Habitat hopes to build 35 houses in the next 12 months. The organization is focusing on the Midtown neighborhood, not far from the new Bucks arena.

"It's a very short drive away," he said.

"Here, the Bucks are moving into their new home and thanks to them more Milwaukee families will have a safe roof over their heads for generations to come."