Bars, restaurants near Fiserv Forum prepare to be in RNC security zone. How will it affect business?

The Republican National Convention is expected to be a financial windfall for some Milwaukee-area businesses, but it's still unclear what that week will look like for institutions nearest the gathering at Fiserv Forum.

Patrons typically flock to bars and restaurants on King Drive before and after events at Fiserv Forum.

But with the arena being the center of activity during the convention, the closest businesses may find themselves within the security perimeter of the event which could bring added complications, like increased security and road closures, to operations that week.

Daniel Hazard, CFO of Mader’s Restaurant, said he “absolutely” expects to be in the security zone.

“We’re too close,” Hazard said. “We literally can hit Fiserv with a softball. I see no way around it, we’re going to be in that security zone.”

The RNC is scheduled to be in Milwaukee July 15-18. In 2020, Milwaukee expected to host the Democratic National Convention but that was mostly virtual because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Hazard said he and other staff members have met with the Republican National Committee and were asked about their capabilities, like whether they had private rooms and the capacity of the restaurant. The RNC is looking for places to hold private events for the delegates, but he’s still unsure how many employees would need to work during that week.

“We’ll have to see what they book and what needs they have,” Hazard said. “You’ll have sort of a captive audience.”

Major Goolsby’s is just south of Fiserv at Kilbourn and Phillips avenues, and directly across the street from Panther Arena, which will be heavily involved in the convention.

Orissa Somlai, assistant manager of Major Goolsby’s, said the restaurant is still in the planning stages and is fielding inquiries from groups wanting to book the venue.

“I’m pretty sure (Secret Service is) going to bring in people to background-check everyone,” Somlai said. “Even though we’re seasonal, we do have a core staff that we’re definitely planning on keeping around ... obviously we have to staff a lot more than we would for Bucks games.”

Somlai said the Secret Service has met with some of Major Goolsby's staff and the restaurant feels like communication has been good with the agency.

“They are doing a great job of keeping us in the loop,” Somlai said.

Republican National Convention security details coming in April

The security zone is expected to be announced closer to the RNC dates but a large portion of downtown Milwaukee is preparing for increased security.

In a statement, the Secret Service said the security plan for the RNC is "still in development."

"In order to minimize impacts to the public, the U.S. Secret Service has begun outreach efforts with those who live or operate a business in an area likely to fall within the security perimeter. This includes door-to-door notifications, sit-down meetings, and open outreach events," the Secret Service stated.

The city, the RNC Host Committee, and Secret Service will hold outreach events on April 11, one for residents and and another for businesses in areas likely to fall within the security perimeter.

The Secret Service said that once a security plan is established, a map with details on road closures and other topics will be available to the public.

"This map will contain information on parking restrictions, road closures, and marked checkpoints that residents, employees, and those looking to patronize businesses are able to use to safely enter the perimeter," the agency stated.

Weighing cost of closing versus trying to stay open during RNC

One block east of Major Goolsby’s, The Milwaukee County Historical Society is taking a different approach to the week the RNC is in the city.

Ben Barbera, executive director of the Milwaukee County Historical Society, met with Secret Service who told them the building on King Drive would be “within check points.”

“We’re planning to have the staff work off-site for the week,” Barbera said. “We have historic buildings we can work in. We have a warehouse where most of our stuff is stored. For people who do collections-based stuff, they’ll be working at those sites. And for other people, they’ll work remotely for the week.”

Barbera said the historical society’s goal is to rent the building during the week and staff have been working with a third-party vendor to do the rentals “and they’ve been showing the building quite a bit.”

“For the (Democratic National Convention in 2020) that didn’t happen, we were going to rent it out for 10 days,” Barbera said. “We’re hoping to get, not necessarily 10 days, but a similar situation where we have one client that’s in here the whole time and they make it their home base.”

A few blocks to the south on MLK Drive is Canary Coffee Bar, a specialty coffee shop about two block east of the Baird Center, another facility expected to be within the security zone and heavily involved in the RNC.

“Honestly, it sounds like a giant pain in the ass,” owner Colin Whitcomb said. “That’s how I felt when they were talking about doing the Democratic convention here too. It seems like a really big pain to continue to operate within this tight perimeter... it seems like we can make a little bit of extra money ‒ I don’t know − but there’s also this question of, nobody that can normally come to the coffee shop can come there (during the event). So, who knows how it’s going to go.”

Whitcomb is planning to be open during the convention, but he's not looking to rent the facility for private events.

“For us to close the coffee shop and open it up to a private event, I don’t know, that seems like a lot of work,” Whitcomb said. “It would have to be the right value for us to do something like that.”

One consideration, he said, is that some employees work part-time and need to work that week.

“I don’t have money in my pocket to pay people for hours they don’t work. So we do need to continue to pay people,” Whitcomb said.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Businesses near Fiserv Forum prepare to be in RNC security zone