Hoped-for new theater still faces many obstacles : News-Record.com : Greensboro & the Triad's most trusted source for local news and analysis

Coliseum advocates may have to work overtime to convince city voters that the complex needs a new $36 million performing arts center.

But first, they must contend with folks who support the idea of a new theater but don’t want it built at the coliseum.

Downtown advocates have long called for a landmark performance space. If the city is going to build an arts center, they argue, it should be downtown.

“I want to see (downtown) thrive and grow,” said Zeke Vantreese, who started a letter-writing campaign to the Greensboro City Council. “A downtown performing arts center would just be a great place to bring people to Greensboro and show them all of the unique shops and businesses we have downtown.”

The City Council will debate the idea of a performing arts center bond referendum on Tuesday at its annual retreat. Mayor Robbie Perkins has asked city staff members to present realistic estimates for building a theater downtown, in order to help the council consider its options.

Coliseum Director Matt Brown will ask the council to demolish the out-of-date War Memorial Auditorium and build a theater that will give Greensboro a competitive edge over the Durham Performing Arts Center.

Brown proposes using $30 million in voter-approved bond money and $6 million in hotel-motel tax money set aside for coliseum use.

“There are high school auditoriums that are better than this,” Brown said Friday, while peering out from the auditorium stage.

A theater at the coliseum would cost less than one downtown, Brown said, because it could take advantage of the coliseum’s infrastructure and staff.

Downtown advocates are urging council members not to buy that until they consider other options.

“If we are going to make an investment of this size and magnitude, there ought to be a more thoughtful process to make sure this is the right facility and the right location,” said Ed Wolverton, president of Downtown Greensboro Inc. “We’re really focused on making sure that we’re working in the best interest of the entire community.”

Residents and business owners flooded council members with email this week, asking them to consider putting a performance center downtown.

The proponents said such a venue would bring foot traffic to downtown businesses and build on the growing creative economy there.

The issue has been explored in a series of planning studies, which even considered where to build the theater.

Downtown Greensboro Inc. and the United Arts Council of Greater Greensboro have a task force that is examining the operational needs of a theater. They also are looking at how to finance a performing arts center downtown.

But they still have significant details to work out.

“Come up with a plan that works and is financeable, and we will go from there,” Perkins said.

Contact Amanda Lehmert at 373-7075 or amanda.lehmert@news-record.com

Jarrow

January 21, 2012 - 6:31 am EST

The argument that the coliseum staff and infrastructure at that location creates an advantage for the management of a new theater/performing arts center is spurious . . . weak at best. First problem is that when other events are going on, parking is at a premium and difficult to find even in the gigantic parking lots they have, not to mention the traffic problems coming and going. Second, the staff is perfectly capable of managing a performing arts center within the City at another location. The ability of the staff to manage another facility is not limited to within the property lines on West Lee St. Third, the adutorium we have now was built from decisions made in the mid-1950's - a new facility on the same spot is merely a continuation of that mind-set and cannot be seen as appropriate for today except by just closing your eyes and ears. In short, the placing of a performing arts venter in the same spot cannot be automatically justified, maybe not justified at all.

GreensboroFan

January 21, 2012 - 7:23 am EST

Well said Jarrow . . . I agree

Traveler

January 21, 2012 - 7:55 am EST

I do not know much about the need for a new performing arts center.

In the past three years I have been to maybe a dozen shows at the current auditorium, musicals, theater, and the like. To the best of my memory the crowds were good, mostly playing to a full house.

As best as I can remember, the crowd seemed to be local. Most of the faces I recognized. It did not appear that many of the crowd were from out of town.

$46,000,000 is a lot of money. The last time I checked we were in economic hard times. Just because the city can borrow $46,000,000 does not mean we should.

The argument I hear is the current facility is old and outdated. With all the improvements made daily in electronics, lighting, sound systems, etc., I can believe the facility is outdated.

To me, the more important questions is what would we get for our $46,000,000? Is this a facility that a few thousand wealthy citizens use a dozen times a year to see shows like "Chicago", "Moma Mia", et al? Do thousands of people come from out of town for the shows, spend the night, spend big bucks for dinners, and the like?

From what I have seen, the crowd seems to be the local, higher income residents.

Unless someone can produce verifyable hard figures (financials) to show how this would profit the taxpayers, I suggest that Greensboro should not borrow $46,000,000 (or more if we get the usualy and customary overuns).

Matt Brown said there were better high school auditoriums. Why not use them? Our tax dollars have already paid for them.

wctbl?

January 21, 2012 - 10:49 am EST

You are right. The audience is higher income and local. Why build a new venue with tax dollars when our community arts organizations cannot use the current facility (War Memorial Auditorium) built with city tax dollars? We're in the high school auditoriums which are smaller. If we can't use the facility we can't reach the local higher income individuals and a larger audience. Then community arts projects seek more funding because the larger portion of tax dollars are going to a facility with higher admission fees. Go local. Support your neighbors who perform.

hgals01

January 21, 2012 - 7:59 am EST

The only way this project should move forward, if it was privately funded and built downtown. We still do not have any hotels and great shops near the coliseum. We need to get our city debt to zero, this is what you need for economic development.

timflowers

January 21, 2012 - 12:05 pm EST

You're kidding right? One of the largest malls on the east coast sits near the coliseum, along with numerous restaurants (a new Fatz, among them), and a new hotel is under construction.

January 21, 2012 - 1:20 pm EST

Again, from what I've seen, the events at the performing arts auditorium draws a local crowd.

I don't think hotels, restaurants, shops, etc. will be affected by whether or not a new facility is built.

rooster8786

January 21, 2012 - 2:39 pm EST

Traveler - OBVIOUSLY you do not live up to your name. Please look at the calendar of events for the DPAC and realize people do drive for cultural events. That being said, the only money I've spent in Durham, for DPAC events, is the cost of the tickets; meaning economic impact numbers are usually HIGHLY inflated for these types of venues...

January 22, 2012 - 1:52 pm EST

I enjoy performing arts. What I am trying to say is that the "economic impact" of cultural arts is small. Like you said, you drove the roughly 45 minutes to Durham, saw the show, then drove home. The money you spent was the cost of the tickets.

When people are proposing spending $46,000,000, we darn well better get a return on the taxpayer's investment.

January 21, 2012 - 2:29 pm EST

We need something upcale like downtown Tampa...shops and arena. Our whole coliseum are has to be transformed. We want residents and visitors to be able to walk to great hotels, food, and shopping. The four seasons mall and area are still stuck in the 70's and 80's. We need to think outside the box here in Greensboro. I am hoping UNCG's growth will spur growth area. No I am not kidding....please visit Tampa and other arena setups.

Copper1

January 21, 2012 - 3:53 pm EST

You might want to hold off on popping the champagne about how great four seasons mall is, it would be wise to request a crime report for that area from the GPD. The zone in question is riddled with rapes, shooting and theft above the national average. To say, its the one the largest on the east coast is a stretch, however you could say it's current owner filed bankruptcy and the creditors took a beating, which would be a better answer.

ambrclaire

January 21, 2012 - 8:16 am EST

I think a new performing arts center downtown will create jobs downtown and help support businesses that are already downtown. The downtown is coming more and more alive and is good for Greensboro. Building such a structure at the Coliseum does not promote other businesses very well and there is not enough parking if there are other events going on at the complex. I don't mind paying for this . Institutions like this encourage businesses to locate here and has the potential of creating jobs...

jksal

January 21, 2012 - 9:19 am EST

I guess i am confused.... Didn't voters turn down 2 bonds in the past 5 years for a new performing arts center? While I think the coliseum complex is great and Matt Brown does a great job championing his complex, when is enough enough? To keep bringing this up and shoving it down the voters faces when we have already said "NO" is hard to stomach. Just because we can borrow the money doesn't mean we should borrrow the money. I hope voters continue to say no to the project and i don't care if it is Downtown, or on Lee ST!!

Panacea

January 21, 2012 - 5:41 pm EST

We turned down the swim center too . . . twice . . . , but that got built.

Check your bond referendums carefully in the future, lest they slip another one by us.

newtogso

January 21, 2012 - 9:49 am EST

I hate to say it, but I suspect one of the reasons Matt Brown thinks he can do this is because DGI has utterly and completely dropped the ball on this. They are familiar with the Downtown Consolidated Plan. A Performing Arts Center was one of the top (if not top priorities.) The plan is at least a year old. What the heck have they been doing? And then I get a survey from them that lists their priorities as moving their office to street level and keeping the streets clean (essentially)? A PAC needs to be downtown, whether built with public or private money, and DGI ought to be demonstrating to us that it has given this idea at least more than a passing thought in the past year. And then they wonder why residents feel the need to form a downtown association and merchants another association - it's because they aren't doing their job - and their priorities are mixed up. Stop talking and planning and start doing!

January 21, 2012 - 9:52 am EST

This is a good reminder for all citizens to vote in city council and local races. We want leaders of local government to create a pro business and spur private sector jobs and development. Taxes and Debt are not the answer for Greensboro!

January 21, 2012 - 5:44 pm EST

I'm a bit confused by your statement.

You don't want higher taxes or debt . . . yet you support the PAC?

goodtoknow

January 21, 2012 - 10:03 am EST

First, pay our debt off, then make private money build the arts center. And I think it should be downtown.

areyouserious

January 21, 2012 - 2:09 pm EST

Not really for it. However part of the reason they come to the city for money is because citizens make demands like it needs to be downtown. If its all private money, then citizens have no say in location, prices, or if local community groups can use the facility at all. Which is already a sore subject it seems. Just pointing that out. Its a slippery slope sometimes.

slabmeat

January 21, 2012 - 11:08 am EST

I don't know what the right answer is here, but I do know that now is NOT the time to use public money for this kind of thing. On the other hand, I recently went to an event at our auditorium for the first time in a few years after having seen events at auditoriums elsewhere. I turned to my wife after finding my seat and said that our auditorium is a disgrace to Greensboro when compared to other places. SOMETHING must be done at some point. Public versus private? All I know is the auditorium is a representation of our city. To me, that says public money is warranted... at some point.

newkid

January 21, 2012 - 11:21 am EST

downtown cries out for a project like this; the Coliseum area does not. I, too, would prefer to see a privately-funded enterprise, but that's not likely and using public money to help boost downtown is certainly worthwhile.

I'm also troubled that the Coliseum management seems to get so far down the road (again) to a project becoming a done deal *before* the public is informed. This is highly inappropriate at best and it speaks to the dangers of non-elected officials having influence over public funds.

January 21, 2012 - 1:55 pm EST

I know that Matt Brown and Robbie talk often, and have for many years. Yvonne is in the mix as well. I can guarantee you that Robbie, Yvonne, and Matt Brown have been working on the best way to "sell" this for months. I heard about this idea (how to build a new performing arts auditorium) last summer listening to "some of the politically connected" having drinks at a downtown bar.

One of the plans they are discussing now is having a large percentage (exact percentage still being discussed) of the work designated for minority firms. They feel by making that commitment (aka bribe), the African American community will get behind the project. The unemployement rate for young black males in Greensboro is estimated to exceed 20%. Many African Americans feel that they aren't getting enough of the local economic benefits.

Robbie is doing exactly what he said he would do if elected. Instead of having open debate and public fighting over issues like this, the city council will have "small group discussions", make sure a majority supports the issue, and then bring it to the public's attention. There are a lot more coming. I understand Robbie is working to spend several million dollars to extend city water to the industrial park in the Southeast. What is being discussed is using the $7,000,000 or so that Greensboro is owned as a result of the city/county water breakup to fund the work. When "small group discussions" have hammered out the details, the public will hear about it.

DonMoore

January 21, 2012 - 11:25 am EST

Elections have consequences and as others have stated this is a result. I see Maintenance of the Coliseum as a major problem. Much of the money requested is for fixing things. Matt Brown and his handlers have been negligent with the upkeep of the facility. Maintenance is an operational expense, not a Capital Improvement. It's not Matt's fault - he is allowed to operate this way. Shame on the City Council(s) for allowing the coliseum to operate in this manner.

DougBaker

January 21, 2012 - 11:35 am EST

Before you make the assumption as to whether a PAC, whether at the coliseum or downtown (my preference), would be a playground for the wealthy, check out the Durham PAC and get an idea of what we're missing.
http://www.dpacnc.com/events

January 21, 2012 - 1:32 pm EST

Checked out the link. To me, having an auditorium with "individual screens that make every seat look like front row" for Bill O'Reilly or Christie Brinkley in "Chicago" sounds like a playtoy for the wealthy to me. Doubt many inner city kids or working class families will shell out $50 per seat for that!

yeah_me

January 21, 2012 - 9:17 pm EST

Check the price on the concerts that the "inner city" kids attend.

January 22, 2012 - 1:58 pm EST

I doubt extreme urban rap will be playing at the Durham Cultural Arts Center.

I still believe this performing arts center is a playtoy for a few thousand, mostly white, upper income, people.

The general taxpayers should not spend money for the wealthy to enjoy a new auditorium.

January 21, 2012 - 12:10 pm EST

I'm split on where this should go. I agree with Matt Brown's logic, and we definitely need to do more in the Lee Street/High Point Rd corridor, which is often the first point of contact by visitors. But we also have a fantastic downtown area to show off, and a new performing arts center would be only add to that.

The most interesting thing about this process is that Greensboro is trying to keep up with Durham, which says less about Durham's rise than it does our own lack of leadership and vision over the past decade. Remember when Raleigh and Charlotte often looked to Greensboro for inspiration? I do. Now we're behind Durham and trying to catch up.

luvdowntowngso

January 21, 2012 - 2:15 pm EST

All I hear is privite investment! Does anyone really think that any local developer (other than maybe Roy Carroll) could dish out 36 million for a new PAC? Charlotte has Hugh McCall.If it were not for him, Charlotte would be a weighing station for trucks entering South Carolina! Atlanta has Ted Turner. Who does Greensboro have for an investemt of this scope? Nobody! Get real people! If anything is to get done in Greeensboro it will have to come as a combo of bonds, hotel tax, and maybe some privite investment. Seems to me, from what I'm hearing, bonds for a new PAC downtown would stand a much better chance of passing than bonds for rebuilding on Lee St. As I have said in another post, doesn't Lee St. have enought going on? The area around the GC Complex has about as much as it can handle. Add to that the expandtion of UNCG...I see another West Wendover in the making with a real traffic nightnare!

January 21, 2012 - 4:03 pm EST

Pal, go back and check the record, Mr Koury offered to renovate the coliseum completely if the city would have agreed to a $1 a year lease. This was rejected by the council and the taxpayers are on the hook for all the cost. To say no one will develope the site is untrue. If the numbers prove to show a positive cash flow and the events can be retained; a simple RFP could handle the project.
It sounds like you want a "sugar daddy" to write a fat check and let Matt Brown run it in the ground.....ain't gonna happen.

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