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Mike Ivey: University Square eatery on hold?

Mike Ivey  —  4/30/2008 9:18 am

Free-wheeling developer Curt Brink has always had big ideas for energizing downtown Madison, from the stylish "Brink Lounge" coffee shop/wine bar/jazz nightclub he opened two years ago in the former Buy & Sell Shop to his unrealized vision for the towering 27-story Archipelago Village on the 900 block of East Washington Avenue.

But Brink's plan for the "Field Pass" -- the $4 million sports bar and nightclub in the new University Square mixed use project -- has apparently run into snags.

Crews from Stevens Construction were pulled off the job recently at the high-profile corner of Lake and West Johnson streets, leaving some to wonder whether the ambitious restaurant project is on shaky financial footing.

"Not at all," says Brink, maintaining that construction is on hold only until some new restaurant equipment arrives. "Once that stuff gets here, we'll get going again."

Still, Brink and son Matt had trouble enough just getting a liquor license for the venture, which would anchor the 12-story, $140-million University Square redevelopment. Given the amount of imbibing already on campus, some were concerned about putting another big alcohol-serving establishment below 360 units of students apartments and a block from the Kohl Center.

When the plan was unveiled last year, the Brinks envisioned two levels for the Field Pass, with an indoor waterfall and other amenities that would cater to a business crowd over the noon hour and the adult crowd at night. They talked of a menu of nearly 65 items, with the kitchen open until 1:30 a.m. seven days a week.

Plans were to open by Aug. 1. Brink Sr. says he is still committed to opening in time for the fall semester.

TRUE BELIEVERS

If you thought Bush and Cheney were the last two guys on Earth who didn't buy into global climate change, guess again.

A group called the International Climate Science Coalition has released a list of 500 people who say "there is no convincing evidence that CO2 emissions from modern industrial activity have in the past, are now, or will in the future cause catastrophic climate change."

On the list are scientists, economists, policymakers, engineers and business leaders -- including at least nine with ties to the UW-Madison. Visit www.climatescienceinternational.org/media1.php.

Among the skeptics: Jim Allard, CEO of Allard Designs in Madison, Steven Welcenbach, president of Third Coast Courier Inc., in Menomonee Falls; and Reid Bryson, emeritus Professor of Meteorology at UW-Madison.

Those who signed onto the Manhattan Declaration on Climate Change don't dispute the planet might be warming but reject any regulations that would "markedly diminish future prosperity and so reduce the ability of societies to adapt to inevitable climate change, thereby increasing, not decreasing human suffering."

It's the old argument that only unregulated growth will bring prosperity and eventually lead to environmental gains. Unfortunately, the past 30 years have shown that free market solutions haven't really gotten the job done when it comes to curbing air pollution.

I'd also argue it doesn't take an advanced degree to realize that belching millions of tons of coal smoke and automobile exhaust into the atmosphere every day for 100 years or so might have long-term consequences.

WHO IS THIS MAN?

Cap Times readers may already know me from two decades of writing about everything from corporate tax scams to craft brewing.

But to all new readers who haven't seen my weekly column before, welcome. Call or e-mail with any gripes, news tips, etc. I won't even tell your boss you're reading on company time.

mivey@madison.com or 252-6431

Mike Ivey  —  4/30/2008 9:18 am