Three decades of sports and entertainment memorabilia will be auctioned off to the public next week as the BMO Harris Bradley Center reaches the end of its 30-year life.
Milwaukee-based Great Lakes Auction Co. Inc. will hold the online auction from June 4 at 10 a.m. to June 12 at 6 p.m. on its website. It will feature over 350 items such as microphones, props, signed instruments, framed photographs and costume pieces from Bradley Center events dating back to 1988, the center announced Friday.
Among the auction items are a Fender guitar signed by Prince in 1997, autographed Metallica guitar smashed by Kirk Hammett in 1997, Ray-Ban sunglasses signed by Billy Joel in 1998, a black felt cowboy hat signed by Tim McGraw in 2003, autographed microphones from *NSYNC’s 1999 “No Strings Attached” tour, and a skateboard signed by Tony Hawk as part of the 2003 Boom Boom Huck Jam.
“As we come to the end of a remarkable run, it’s been amazing to look at all the memorabilia we’ve collected and relive 30 years of fantastic event memories,” Steve Costello, president and chief executive officer of Bradley Center Sports and Entertainment Corp. said in a news release. “This auction is a great way to share these memories with the public one last time.”
According to the release, the auction’s memorabilia will mainly be from concerts, family shows and sporting events, such as WWE Wrestling, Olympic & World figure skating, Badger hockey tournaments and the Harlem Globetrotters shows. Milwaukee Bucks and Marquette University memorabilia will be limited to some photographs and small items.
Some memorabilia, as well as original building plans and other historically important artifacts and documents, will be given to the Wisconsin Historical Society and Milwaukee Public Library.
The center’s demolition is set for mid-Summer, after it hosts its last ever event– Northwestern Mutual’s annual convention. It will be razed just in time for the new Bucks arena to open in September.
