More on War Memorial Stadium, Coliseum
Boiling down five hours of staff briefings and council discussions into a short story means that everything of note doesn't make it into the soybean extract on pressed wood pulp edition of the News & Record. The print edition talked about mixed-use developments and the trash transfer station, but they also covered...
Council member Robbie Perkins asked if the committee has been given a budget for how much the renovation would cost, pointing out that people on the stakeholder committee will probably want more invested in the stadium.
"They're the folks that either live near it or use it," Perkins said. "They're going to want a blank check."
City Manager Ed Kitchen proposed instead that the committee offer three options of varying costs so the council can decide which one is the best use of taxpayer money.
Update: Ed Kitchen released a list of the stakeholders who will be part of the design process. Let's give a hand for Betsy Baun, David Hoggard, David Wharton, Gregory Woodard, Kim Strable, Wheeler Brown, Benjamin Briggs and Marc Bush.
07/28/04--City officials unveiled a plan Tuesday to fund $30 million in improvements to the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, including a banquet center, six-story parking deck and renovations to War Memorial Auditorium.
Voters would likely be asked to authorize the city to borrow the money as early as 2006 if the plans move forward, City Manager Ed Kitchen said. He emphasized that the coliseum's plan is merely an early vision.
Kitchen reminded the council that one of the decisions they will have to make in this budget is whether to include the Coliseum's request for improvements in the city's overall building plan.
"That's probably going to have to come as a part of the next referendum," Kitchen said.
Comments (3)
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Good post, 2 of my favorites....
War Memorial Stadium, if the city had only invested a 10th of the money dumped into the coliseum....
I'd be intererested in where the money given to the coliseum for the Catering Contract (awarded without open bidding) has been spent. Additionally, it seems to me that we are being softened up for another hand-out for the White Elephant.
Matt be sure to ask your sources in City Government about Fire Works at the new baseball stadium. It seems as if the Fire Department is not happy about fireworks potentially landing on the streets surround the land-locked stadium.
Posted on January 7, 2005 4:48 PM
Don,
In September, the City Council already appropriated $868,000 from the concessions agreement to cover the Coliseum's unexpectedly-large deficit at the end of the last fiscal year. The money from Centerplate, the concessions contractor, was put into the "Coliseum Improvement Fund" and earmarked for capital projects like new food stands and equipment. But when the coliseum deficit turned out to be $2.88 million instead of $1.55 million, that money was the main way that deficit was filled.
As far as I know, Coliseum Director Matt Brown has been instructed to keep the Centerplate money in reserve for future dry years, including this one.
Posted on January 7, 2005 5:23 PM
I am more concerned about the results of this year. I have heard whispers from folks that Centerplate is not happy because they thought that the Greensboro Coliseum was fully booked. Their revenues are not what they projected because the coliseum sits relatively empty.
The "operating losses" of the coliseum seem to increase as we dump more money into it.
As a former Season Ticker holder of the hockey team, I am continually asked about hockey from casual fans. While we could never get these people to attend enough games to make the hockey team profitable, it seems as if hockey was one of the only things that most people (I talk to) ever attended at the coliseum, with the exception of a concert or two over the past 10 years.
Posted on January 8, 2005 9:19 AM