War Memorial Auditorium renovation or a new downtown concert hall? (Greensboro: motel, construction)

[gsoboi]

Greensboro City-Council just approved a $200 million plus bond package to put on the November ballot for Greenboro voters. The bond includes a $50 million renovation of the War Memorial Auditorium at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. The auditorium is used for orchestra, broadway and comedy productions as well as other musical concerts. The auditorium seats over 2,000 but the building is outdated with its 1950s look in some areas The apint is even peeling off the ceiling. Seveeral years ago Action Greensboro rolled out a plan that would have included a $40 million concert hall in downtown Greensboro. An office tower would have been a part of the project. (rendering below). The project was supposed to be in Action Greensboro's phase 3 plan.



However, Action Greensboro has been waiting the sidelines because of another proposal to renovate the War Memorial Auditorium at the coliseum. If it is renovated, there would be no need for a downtown concert hall. The auditorium renovation would include upgrading the exterior to match the rest of the coliseum and adding two more balconies which woul raise the height of the building. There are also a number of other upgrades. Here are renderings of the Auditorium renovations.






This is what the renovation is being modeled after.



Here are the pros and cons with both plans.

PROS:

- renovation: Would attract more events to the coliseum so it will stay competitive and profitable for the city

- downtown concert hall: Would be an excellent piece of the puzzle for Greensboro's cultural district in downtown Greensboro and would be privately funded.

CONS:

- renovation: would cost the city taxpayer millions

- downtown concert hall: would take businesss away from the city owned coliseum increasing coliseum operational debt.

Which one would you choose, Auditorium renovation or downtown concert hall? If the bond fails in November Action Greensboro could end up proceding with its brand new downtown facility

BTW the bond also includes a $15 million regional swim center with stadium seating. This could either be built at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex or downtown. The center would incle a 50-meter pool, diving well and warm up pool.

[jjp4]

Wow...that last photo looks great!

[AggiePride.]

Im going with the new downtown concert hall. Like you said, this would be great for Greensboro's cultural district downtown. Im new on here, and you'll probably gauge from most of my post here on out, that Im all for the expansion and growth of Greensboro's downtown.

[movingnahurry]

Where would they have room to put a concert hall downtown?

[gsoboi]

Originally Posted by movingnahurry

Where would they have room to put a concert hall downtown?

The proposed plan would have included the entire block surrounded by Bellemeade Street, North Elm Street, Lindsay Street and Summit Ave. (site across the street from the glass US Trust Building). Most of the block is a parking lot and an old vacant doctor's office. The Greensboro Inn motel would have to be torn down. The plan incuded an office tower attached to the concert hall. DGI thought that the office space would be used for the proposed federal courthouse which was said could be 16-20 stories. By having the federal building as part of the project, most of the project would be funded by the federal government. Construction was suppose to start on the high-rise federal courthouse in 2006 but funding for courthouse projects all over the country were cut off due to the war in Iraq.

[ibeg4sushi]

Concert Hall looks awesome, but I think both plans are inspiring. Thanks for sharing GSOboi!! You're my favorite.

[gsoboi]

You are welcome

[Caodhan]

Personally, I think both would be beneficial to the city. I hate to see the Greensboro Inn go down (it's not historic or anything, just a local landmark... but I'd rather it go down than the Pomona mill which wasn't given a fair chance) ... and that solid white office building that will go down is where my optometrist is... ugly building, so I don't mind it going down.

I think that our citizens need to understand that a little expense for an increased quality of life and a better perception of our city is worth paying for.

If the renovations were made and the concert hall were both built, the city-owned building would remain, but the private concert hall would be forced to try and get better acts to compete with the public one. I am a poor college student that doesn't own property, but even if I did, I would not mind the slight increase.

Why not the best of both worlds? I think both would be good for the city. Especially the Auditorium renovation. I wish our city would actually be serious about improving our "gateways" from the interstates (High Point Rd/West Lee Street corridor north of I-40 in particular). This, if it is passed, something might happen.