County Executive Abele explores merging Wisconsin Center board with new arena authority

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele is exploring combining the Wisconsin Center District with a public authority created to run a new downtown Milwaukee arena as one aspect of funding the $500 million arena project, said Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau).

Abele lacks the power to make that decision — the Wisconsin Center District is autonomous and was created by the state Legislature — and his office is not saying how he would approach the strategy. Wisconsin Center…