During the run-up to the referendum on building a new James Brown Arena and renovating the Bell Auditorium, I wrote a column supporting the measure and, boy howdy, was there a backlash from readers.
I really can’t blame anyone who has lived in Augusta for more than five years for viewing the Coliseum Authority with a jaundiced eye; that authority used to be the most dysfunctional government body in the city.
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As a cub reporter, I covered Coliseum Authority meetings and it was always a spectacle.
One time, a lady showed up out of the blue and began to accuse her husband of having an affair with a fellow authority member and no one who read the news at the time can forget the occasion when self-promoting public agitator Woody Merry got into a fist fight with authority member Bill Fennoy.
Coliseum Authority meetings became so unpredictable that a sheriff’s deputy always had to be on hand.
Former Chairman Richard Isdell told me, “I survived being on the Coliseum Authority, I can survive anything.”
The crowd that held custody of the entertainment complex refused to hire a management company, instead wanting a manager that could be micromanaged by the board, so they hired record store owner Flash Gordon.
Gordon was a nice guy, but he knew nothing about booking national acts and ignored serious issues, such as the plumbing in the arena and the aging roof on the Bell.
Finally, Augusta commissioners wised up and replaced many of the longtime members with solid business professionals.
Since then, the Coliseum Authority has become a board to brag about; they have hired competent management who routinely bring in acts that would have snubbed Augusta during the Gordon era.
The management company, Spectra Experiences, also understands that the entertainment industry has changed radically over the two decades and to book high quality acts, they have to be treated as such backstage.
Back in the day, artists who were riding the top of the charts would come to Augusta just for the chance to appear on WBBQ radio while in town to promote their records.
In fact, before music was streamed, the entire reason that artists toured was to promote their new albums. Tours were managed by the record companies and the artists went where they were told to go.
Fast forward to today, only collectors collect vinyl albums and many artists have stopped making long players and instead drop a new song on iTunes every once and a while.
Touring has now become the major source of income for musicians.
Also, bands such as Styx and REO Speedwagon, who are still incredible players, have aged and they are very picky when it comes to their backstage accommodations. All it takes is for someone of Pat Benatar’s stature to complain to her booking agent, “don’t book me in Augusta again,” to start the dominoes falling and agents ignoring Augusta with their other acts.
I was invited by the Coliseum Authority to tour the renovated Bell’s backstage areas, and I have to say that those areas that once had communal showers and tiny dressing rooms, now look more like a suite at the Hilton.
Moreover, the refitting job came together on time and under budget.
So, through these pictures I have included, I hope those that disagreed with me about the need for a new arena and still view the Coliseum Authority with a wary eye, see that the community is getting good value for their tax dollars.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Editorial Page Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
