News-Record.com

After our story today about negotiations to buy the former Canada Dry bottling plant next to the Greensboro Coliseum, several council members wanted to make it clear they were looking on the property as an important investment for the coliseum, not necessarily because it has been mentioned as a site for the ACC Hall of Champions.

It's important to look at who is heading up the push for the ACC Hall. The idea was brought to the council in January by Coliseum Director Matt Brown (a city employee) and Dick Grubar (the chairman of the coliseum's advisory board). Also involved in the preliminary discussions were Marc Bush (Greensboro Sports Commission), Mike Bumpass (Greensboro Merchants Association), David Jameson (Greensboro Chamber of Commerce), Henry Fourrier (Convention and Visitors Bureau) and Kevin Green (also on the coliseum advisory board).

When Brown and the other Hall organizers unveiled their plans, they had architectural drawings that showed the museum on the Canada Dry plot and incorporated parts of the existing building. At first glance, the council had positive things to say about the museum but were eager to have someone other than the city pay most of the cost.

So while some, including Brown, are pushing for the museum to go there, council members say buying the land is just a good idea to pick up the last piece of the land puzzle to finish out the coliseum's campus.

"It's not about the ACC. It's about having a critical piece of property," council member Tom Phillips said, even though he opposes the Hall of Champions idea.

On the manager front, the council met in closed session again this morning to meet with an unidentified candidate. Mayor Keith Holliday said he couldn't give an estimate as to when a choice would me made. He said it was partly due to the wealth of good candidates the council has to pick from.