The Milwaukee Bucks kick off the 2025-26 regular season with a home opener against the Washington Wizards at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22 at Fiserv Forum.

Fans who haven’t visited Deer District since last season will find new bars and restaurants in familiar spaces. And there are two major construction projects taking shape — a new music venue and the future home of the Milwaukee Public Museum.

Here’s a rundown of new projects in and around Deer District as the Bucks’ season begins:

Tom’s Watch Bar takes over The MECCA Sports Bar and Grill

Denver-based sports-bar chain Tom’s Watch Bar is opening its first Milwaukee location at 1134 N. Phillips Ave., formerly The MECCA Sports Bar and Grill.

The 10,000-square-foot space will feature more than 100 television screens as part of an effort to bring watchers “as close to the action as possible, offering an immersive game day experience that’s the next best thing to a courtside seat,” co-founder and co-CEO Brooks Schaeden said Sept. 18.

Tom’s Watch Bar’s menu includes popular food such as burgers and chicken wings, beer on tap or in a can, and signature cocktails.

The bar opens on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at 4 p.m., ahead of the Bucks’ home game. Its hours will be 4 p.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to midnight Friday through Sunday.

Good City Brewing space is now called Explorium Distilled

The brewpub formerly known as Good City Brewing at 333 W. Juneau Ave. rebranded and reopened as Explorium Distilled Sept. 25.

Explorium Hospitality Group acquired Good City Brewing earlier this year. The company said it rebranded the brewpub to expand Good City’s food and beer selection to include cocktails, which it plans to make in-house once it’s granted a distillery license sometime this year.

Explorium Distilled’s regular hours are 4 to 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. It will open two hours before all Fiserv Forum events.

New Deer District music venue to hold first concert in February

Landmark Credit Union Live, a 4,500-capacity music venue from Madison concert promoter FPC Live, is set to open in February.

The venue, located at 1051 N. Phillips Ave., will host around 70 events next year, starting with its opening concert on Feb. 27. Joel Plant, CEO of company Frank Production, which owns FPC Live, said the venue will attract around 250,000 people each year.

Construction on Landmark Credit Union Live began in May 2024, but the project dates back to late 2021. FPC Live originally proposed the venue for a site directly across from Maier Festival Park, but it moved after pushback from some local residents and music venue operators.

New Milwaukee Public Museum under construction on McKinley

Across from Deer District, construction continues on the Milwaukee Public Museum’s new building in downtown.

The white 200,000-square-foot complex on West McKinley Avenue and North Sixth Street is expected to be complete in late 2026 and open to the public in early 2027. It will house the museum’s collections as well as the Daniel M. Soref Planetarium, Bucyrus Rooftop Terrace and Puelicher Butterfly Vivarium.

The new building brings with it a new name, the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin. President and CEO Ellen Censky said the name better reflects the large amount of visitors the museum receives from outside Milwaukee County and the museum’s status as a private nonprofit, not a publicly owned entity.

The current Milwaukee Public Museum building will remain open until late 2026.

In case you missed it: Punch Bowl Social is now The New Fashioned

In April 2024, The New Fashioned opened at 1122 N. Phillips Ave., formerly the home of Punch Bowl Social.

The New Fashioned is owned by Bars and Rec, which also owns Milwaukee venues including Axe MKE, NorthSouth Club and Nine Below. The space features a 50-line self-serve tap wall, a self-serve custard stand and activities such as bowling, dartball and curling.

The New Fashioned also has a retail space featuring Milwaukee-themed merchandise by The Waxwing’s Steph Davies.

The New Fashioned’s hours are available on Bars and Rec’s website.