Bluff Park transfer coming soon
(Really -- this time they're serious)

Feb. 5, 2007 -- Brewers owner Mark Attanasio has approved the transfer of Bluff Park to the county and the deal should be completed soon, according to County Supervisor Lynne DeBruin.

The County Parks Department already has cleaned out hazardous, leaning trees from the park, and has removed brush and sumac as well.

The Bluff Park transfer has been pending for half a decade. Bluff Park is the hill that separates the Story Hill neighborhood from I-94 and the stadium parking lot. It was inadvertently deeded to the state and the Stadium Board in 1996 as part of the dealings that allowed construction of Miller Park.

The County Board voted in 2001 to seek return of the parcel, and the Stadium Board indicated its willingness to give it back.

The property returning to the county, though, will not include the pedestrian sidewalk that runs along I-94 or the, or the north side of the pedestrian bridge leading to Miller Park. Attanasio wanted the Stadium District to retain ownership of those parcels to eliminate the possibility that stadium access via those routes could be shut off.

The transfer also must be vetted by the State Department of Administration.

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Bluff Park transfer on hold
Brewers' owner Attanasio to be consulted

Jan. 9, 2007 -- The long-awaited transfer of Bluff Park from the Stadium District to the county has been put on hold so that Brewers' owner Mark Attanasio can be brought up to speed on the issue, according to County Supervisor Lynne DeBruin.

"He apparently has never been briefed," she said.

DeBruin vowed last year that the return would be accomplished in 2006. The memorandum of understanding to do that was ready in November, but Attanasio was out of state and busy with other issues.

"There haven't been any concerns or issues by the Brewers," DeBruin said. "We're not getting any signal at all that there's any problem."

The deal very likely will be done, she said. The issue "really is when Attanasio can look at it."

The county is confident enough that it will eventually own the park that it is doing some minor repairs to the pedestrian walkway and is going to trim some trees in the park, she said. A few trees have fallen and at least one is pressing against a fence, she said.

Chuck Ward, operations manager for the county Parks Department, agreed. "I think at this point it's on track," he said.

Once the Brewers, Stadium District and county have an agreement, it still must be reviewed and approved by the State Department of Administration, he said.

Ward said some of the county's work in the park would occur after the city buries lighting cables along the edge of Miller Park north of the freeway.

Bluff Park is the hill that separates the Story Hill neighborhood from I-94 and the stadium parking lot. It was inadvertently deeded to the state and the Stadium Board in 1996 as part of the dealings that allowed construction of Miller Park.

The County Board voted in 2001 to seek return of the parcel, and the Stadium Board indicated its willingness to give it back.