Revised deal may rev up Milwaukee Mile track plan

Dan Clarke in Milwaukee pits in 2006

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. More at JSOnline.com