A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a wonderful opportunity before city leaders — the chance to land an international bicycle race in South Milwaukee.
The International Cycling Classic would like to add a Superweek race to the city in July, bringing with it more than 500 cyclists and perhaps thousands of spectators. I remain just as excited about this, but here’s the reality: We need to find sponsorship dollars to make the race happen. And soon.
I want to give credit to Community Development Director Danielle Devlin for her work so far in seeking sponsors for the race. She’s done well, and there’s been strong interest. And why not? This is a first-class event that local businesses and organizations should be proud to sponsor.
We need more than $15,000 annually to bring this event to South Milwaukee, money that goes toward a “site fee” paid to the ICC and other expenses. In my mind, it’s a bargain, a good value when you consider the economic impact an event like this can have.
I hope the City Council agrees with me. The issue is expected to be on the council agenda at next Tuesday’s meeting, when we’ll discuss the city potentially backing the $15,000 annual investment (over three years) the ICC is seeking.
The hope is that sponsorship dollars will cover that entire amount, leaving taxpayers on the hook for nothing and with just one responsibility: Enjoy a first-class sporting event on the streets of South Milwaukee.
If you have any sponsorship ideas or, better yet, connections, please email or call me. And don’t be surprised if I’m back asking for help in bringing this event to life should we land it.
South Milwaukee Blog 
I hope this happens, as well. As mentioned before, it’d be great to see the southside communities band together and get a bigger bang for the effort and money to really make a bigger impact.
In a previous post on this topic, another one of your readers posted a strongly-worded, but valid question about these events. In it, she expressed hope that the city would be significantly compensated for the annoyance that this type of event has brought in the past. In my experience, her point was correct. Traffic on STATE HIGHWAY 32 is stopped (on Sunday while people are trying to get to church or on Saturday while people are trying to get to work), while the bicyclists who have a stop sign are allowed to go right on through. (As she mentioned, we aren’t talking about safely letting someone already in the road continue all the way through).
If I am reading your blog post correctly, it sounds like now the city is actually being asked to PAY significantly for this inconvenience. Considering the economy, the city budget issues, the school, the taxes we pay, etc., is this REALLY the best use of our money? Indeed being sponsored, maybe we should be asking those sponsors to help fill up the city coffers instead by charging a fee for the ride passing through.
SM Guy, you bring up some valid points. There will be an inconvenience to residents when the actual race occurs. However, when doing any type of development, there’s always inconvience. Think road construction (Chicago Ave.?). Isn’t the initial inconvenience, especially if everyone knows in advance that it’s happening, outweigh the overall benefits of bringing awareness to the southside and attracting new residences and businesses to the area?
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