The No. 1 question in Augusta is, will the 1/2 cent C-SPLOST tax pass in November? Will a new James Brown Arena be built for the price tag of $230 million dollars? Don’t forget the interest on the bonds that will bring the total over the payment period to around $433 million dollars. Just as buying a new house and finance over a period of many years.
I am not going to state whether you should vote NO or YES. Your vote will have to be your vote as to if you want another tax added to your, our, already devalued dollar buying power.
A question that I have been asked often is how do you only pay a 1/2 cent sales tax at the register? Answer, it’s will most probably be rounded up to the full penny. Then inquiring minds want to know where the other 1/2 cent will go. I don’t have a definitive answer. I have heard that it would go to the sheriff’s department to fund building new pods at the Charles Webster Detention center.
A study has been performed to see if hockey would be a good tenant for the new arena. The study shows that it most probably would be. Many cities, both near and far, do have minor league hockey at their venues. It would be an added expense to provide the ice assembly to the project. That is why hockey is not a confirmed piece of the pie. It would also mean an outside owner would have to financially commit. There would also have to be an additional ice ring build off site for practice. At the team owner’s expense.
Even a YES vote on the hockey prospect doesn’t mean a guarantee for a hockey team is chiseled in stone. That runs akin to the famous statement by the Speaker of the House about the Health Care Plan. “We have to approve it before we know what’s in it.”
There are several statements that really should be explained to voters full satisfaction. Not just a number publicly announced that sounds good.
Such as, 423 event days. How is that number arrived at? Both the JBA and Bell have events on same day? Multiple events in a single day?
The statement that the new arena will create 589 new jobs. One statement stated new full time jobs. OK. Where? We can all understand the contractors and workers it would employee to build the facility. After building, those jobs go away. Therefore, how and where will it create 589 full time jobs? Certainly not to operate the arena. Will the arena cause more restaurants and motels to be built? Will new jobs be created to service the arena?
All of the information that follows is directly from the Sept. 17, 2020 James Brown Arena presentations to the public and city commissioners. Nothing major has changed since then except maybe the Hockey feasibility study.
The James Brown Arena market analysis was conducted and prepared by Hugen Strategic Partners. This firm is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The analysis is 192 pages of data.
The design and study was conducted and prepared by Perkins & Will. This is an architect firm with offices located through out the globe. The Atlanta office headed the James Brown Arena project. It consists of 79 pages of design plans.
The James Brown Arena traffic study was performed and compiled by Kimberly Horn, who has many offices nation wide. The report was 57 pages in depth.
As you can surely see, a lot of time and money went into these studies. So, let’s see what the effort and money spent came up with.
I will say that the new design of the complexes that joins the Bell and Arena together is truly beautiful. State of the art all the way.
This is what is the design features: four levels, elevators as well as escalators, a shared loading dock and kitchen, meeting facilities, as well as a ballroom and a shared box office. From center ground floor to inside roof will be 100 feet in height. The stage end of the arena will have load bearing ceiling structure to support the newer production acts.
Seating as stated in the design presentation is as follows:
11,000 for a center stage set up. Used very rarely in todays market.
10,140 with an end stage set up. This is standard for nearly all arenas and coliseums.
10,300 for a basketball set up.
8,700 for ice shows and hockey.
8,200 for mid size rodeo.
166 booth set-up spaces for special vender exhibitions.
Most arenas and coliseums lose many, many seats when a concert is booked using the routine end stage set up (stage set at one end of the venue floor).
Examples of some are:
Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C. with a capacity of 18,000, end stage capacity of 13,000 with a loss of 5,000 seats for concerts.
Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. has a capacity of 15,000, end stage capacity of 10,200 with a loss of 4,800 seats for concerts.
New Savannah Arena in Savannah, Ga. has a capacity of 9,437, end stage capacity of 8,300 with a loss of 1,137 seats for concerts.
Macon Coliseum in Macon, Ga. has a capacity of 9,000, end stage capacity of 6,800 and a loss of 2,200 seats for concerts.
North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, S.C. has a capacity of 13,000, end stage capacity of 8,200 with a loss of 4,800 seats for concerts
These numbers come directly from the market analysis that was presented. So how many will the JBA lose with end stage capacity?
The new arena will have 12 suites, two party suites, two press boxes, two large concession areas that you can sit and enjoy refreshments and still see the show and a large bar area. It will also have more rest rooms for more convenience.
The parking is a big question for most people. The following also comes straight from the pages of the traffic study for parking. There are a number of parking options. The now adjacent parking lots will still be used. No parking decks planned at this time.
There will be several off site parking spaces available. There are 19 listed but here is just a few mentioned:
Municipal Building: 195 spaces
Judicial Center: 264 spaces
Post Office: 85 spaces
Library: 30 spaces
Probate court: 335 spaces
Methodist church: 165 spaces
The Richmond on Greene: 30 spaces.
Plus on street parking.
Walking and ride sharing will be encouraged. Shuttle service will be available from certain areas.
Now for all of the Taylor Swift and Beyonce ultra fans, they won’t be coming to the new arena. They perform in stadiums. As do many others such as Garth Brooks and Kenny Chesney. Look up the ticket prices for their shows.
However, Augusta would attract artists such as The Eagles, Tim McGraw, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Luke Bryan or Janet Jackson.
Let me express and make clear, the Coliseum Authority operates independently. There is no connection or oversight to or from the Augusta Commission. Folks, that is a positive. The Augusta Commission nor the Augusta Procurement Department will have any input or control over any arena project. That is a huge positive.
Will a new arena revitalized down town? Sadly no. Not alone. It will take the Augusta Commissioners to collectively get off their assets and do the jobs that they were elected to do. Demand to know where the money in a now projected $1.16 billion dollar budget is at. How and where is it being spent? Why isn’t it being spent on the infrastructure as intended?
Does Augusta need a new arena? In all probability it does. This arena is falling down. It is very aged for its intended use. Reason for rebuilding on current location is simple: the land is already paid for.
While I do not personally know all of the members of the Coliseum Authority, I do know three very well. Chairman Cedric Johnson, Vice Chairman Brad Ursy and Darren Smith. These men are life long Augusta residents. True business leaders dedicated to a better Augusta.
As far as their personal character is concerned, you could leave your wallet on the corner of each of their desk packed full of money, come back for it and it would be untouched.
This is a hot issue in Augusta. It is a passionate issue. I’m sure that the members of the Coliseum Authority have no issue with the numbers from their associates hired to do present an analysis being presented to you for your study.
If someone does not share your view point, they are not ignorant. Don’t name call or belittle as I have heard being done. They just share a different view point. It is still their right.
The Augusta Press is dedicated to truth. Printing all sides to an issue. Therefore, I write this column.
Now for all of you who paid attention while I was serving as District 10 commissioner, I only voted for a tax rollback. I voted no to approve the SPLOST 8 because of pork barrel spending. I voted no to the ill conceived city budget. I stood firm against any tax increase. A tax increase is still a tax increase. No matter the cause or reason.
Folks, as always, you just can’t make this stuff up.
