While the 1971 NBA Championship Milwaukee Bucks never got a victory lap around the town, Cream City will not make the same mistake twice.
After the Bucks won their second NBA Finals Tuesday night in a dramatic series against the Phoenix Suns, the team announced the parade details on Wednesday.
The parade will begin at 11 a.m. at the foot of Wisconsin Avenue (at Prospect, near the orange Mark di Suvero sculpture), and will end at the Milwaukee River and East Knapp Street.
According to a release from the Bucks, "Bucks players, coaches, owners, alumni and staff will take part in the parade, which will begin at the intersection of E. Wisconsin Ave. and N. Prospect Ave. The parade will then proceed west on E. Wisconsin Ave. before turning north onto N. Water St. From there, the route will continue on N. Water St. to E. Knapp St. before ending on E. Knapp St. at the Milwaukee River."
Then, after the parade, a huge celebration will be held at the Deer District, on Block 6, just north of the Fiserv Forum. A stage from which players, coaches, dignitaries – Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett – and others will address the throng of fans, will be located on the north end of the space, at 5th and McKinley.
The party is expected to begin at 12:30 p.m. and the program is expected to conclude by around 2 p.m.
Bucks sign language interpreter Brice Christianson providing American Sign Language for full inclusion for deaf fans.
There will be viewing areas and screens set up throughout Deer District.
Visit www.bucks.com/parade for more information.
In addition to the streets on the parade route, these streets will be closed beginning as early as 8 a.m. Thursday, according to Milwaukee DPW:
- West McKinley Avenue from North Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. Drive to North 6th Street
- West Juneau Avenue from North Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. Drive to North 6th Street
- North Vel R. Phillips Avenue from West McKinley Avenue to West Kilbourn Avenue
- North 5th Street from West McKinley Avenue to West Juneau Avenue
Find information about parking options at parkmilwaukee.com. But expect heavy traffic and difficult parking. Consider riding the bus or The Hop or parking away from the area and walking or riding a scooter or a Bublr Bike.
Please note that due to the parade, City Hall will be closed to the public from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Thursday.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
