MILWAUKEE, Wis. – It’s a big day for fans of both the Milwaukee Brewers and mini golf.
The team March 18 unveiled formal renderings for the planned UW Credit Union Plaza set to open this June outside of American Family Field. The space will be located right near the pedestrian bridge over Hwy 175, and comes complete with beer garden, performance stage, a kids play area, and the aforementioned mini golf course.
The team indicates the space will only be open on gamedays during the season.
“The UW Credit Union Plaza allows us to amplify one of the best fan experiences in all of baseball,” said Brewers President of Business Operations Rick Schlesinger in a press release. “This project builds on the entertainment culture that already exists outside our ballpark – from tailgating to gathering with friends and family. This reflects our commitment to creating spaces that feel uniquely Milwaukee and unmistakably Wisconsin.”
“In Wisconsin, game day is more than the innings we watch from the stands; it’s often a full-day event,” added UW Credit Union President and CEO Paul Kundert. “This gathering space is designed to create a more connected, immersive ballpark experience that honors the Club’s Wisconsin roots. It may have our name on it, but it belongs to the fans.”
There will be homages to Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and the Brewers throughout the plaza, including on the mini golf course. On Hole 1, players will notice the green is shaped like the state, “complete with a water feature representing Lake Michigan”, according to the release. Other nods mentioned include the Elroy-Sparta Bike Trail, the bluffs of western Wisconsin’s Driftless Region and the Hoan Bridge in Milwaukee. The Joie Play Yard, a play space featuring a large cow-shaped slide wearing a Brewers hat, will acknowledge Wisconsin’s agricultural heritage.
In late September, Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District facilities director Brian Dworak first told WTMJ about the planned space, indicating it would be built primarily to attract those less interested in the traditional tailgating experience before games.
The plaza is one of two planned outdoor spaces at the ballpark Dworak alluded to; the second would be located near the home plate entrance and would be used primarily as a club event space for season ticket holders, but that could be rented out on non-game days as well.
The two are being funded by $20 million set aside for a pair of “social gathering places”, defined as projects “intended to enhance the ballpark experience and to field a competitive product, including social gathering, season seat-holder, and other environments appealing to the Wisconsin fanbase”. Within the ballpark, those spaces include locations like the 3rd Street Market Hall Annex which first opened at the start of the 2024 season in right field.
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