MILWAUKEE — It's because of Herb Kohl that the University of Wisconsin Men's Hockey Team can play at Fiserv Forum for the annual Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off.
They also call the Kohl Center home ice because of his generous contribution back in the 90's.
"A man who kept the Milwaukee Bucks here and also built the Kohl Center. I mean just a wonderful person” Jim Becker a Wisconsin Hockey fan explained.
Becker and his buddy Bill Flood are longtime Badger sports fans. They went to school at Wisconsin too.
"Putting the Kohl Center up there just became kinda a little monument out there, a great court, a great atmosphere, the ticket sales went up, the alumni ot engaged." Flood, a proud alumni and fan explained.
UW Athletics said in a statement that the department is "forever in his debt for the arena on campus that bears his name…”
"I mean you have to build a world class facility nowadays at any collegiate level, to get players to want to come there and be there for four years. What he did was just amazing.” Becker said.
In 1995, Kohl donated $25 million towards the arena project. According to the University of Wisconsin, his gift is the single largest private donation in the university's history.
"The University's sports in general needed a lift. And the field house before the Kohl Center had it's days. But wasn't real explosive.” David Kircher, fan and proud alumni explained.
Kircher said he attended the very first event at the Kohl Center in 1998 and that's when he said Wisconsin basketball and hockey expanded. "When the Kohl Center opened up, a friend of mine and I got season tickets right away.”
Fans tell me they love the Kohl Center and appreciate it as a reflection of the man that Herb Kohl was.
"What a legacy the man will leave behind, just a remarkable human being, I just wish more people were like him" Becker explained.
Both Becker and Kircher are proof that kohl was a man who touched the lives of many people across our state.
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