Commissioner says Regency Mall plan doesn’t have necessary votes (Atlanta: attorney, theater)

[Airforceguy]

All I can say is good. This was a boneheaded plan from the beginning. If Morris' plans for an arena at that site 14 years ago was bad, it certainly isn't any better now. The new JBA needs to be downtown.

But at least one commissioner, Grady Smith, said he expects the commission to put an end to Davis’ plan Tuesday.

“I’m with Mary Davis, Sean Frantom, Wayne Guilfoyle, Ben Hasan and Sammie Sias,” Smith said of the six “no” votes he thinks the plan now has. “I don’t want it down there, and neither does half the county.”

David Dunagan, who said he is running for the seat held by Smith, who is term-limited, filed a formal complaint Monday against the Augusta-Richmond Coliseum Authority and its attorney, Ed Enoch, with the office of Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr. The complaint alleges the authority’s meeting violated the Georgia Open Meetings Act and included a request for copies of minutes from the closed session and for Enoch to be sanctioned for allowing the meeting to take place.

Commissioner says Regency Mall plan doesn

[Airforceguy]

The Regency Mall plan was rejected today on a re-vote. The commission finally did something right. The JBA belongs downtown.

The vote to reject Cardinale’s proposal passed 7-1 with Jefferson opposed and Williams and Fennoy out.
Davis’ negotiations with the mall owner gave rise to the proposal approved by the Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority last week.
The proposal has drawn criticism from Augusta’s business community for diverting a downtown asset, the James Brown Arena, away from downtown at the cusp of downtown’s revival. But supporters view it as deserved investment in Augusta’s south side that would eradicate blight plaguing the area for decades.

On re-vote, Augusta Commission rejects arena deal at Regency | The Augusta Chronicle

[therealpattman]

Outstanding! The city needs to build the arena at the corner of Greene and 15th Street as a join collaboration between the city and Augusta University. The city should also convert Greene Street into a ground level landscaped boulevard so that Harrisburg can grow because I believe it is the key to downtown taking the next step. What would downtown Atlanta be without Midtown?

[AUGnative]

Actually the city does not need to sink upwards of $200 million on a new arena.
Unless Au is going to join the SEC and have a basketball team than could fill a large arena, this is just not necessary.
Arenas are primarily for sports.. and concerts are secondary.. in fact they are pretty lousy venues for concerts.
BUt all I keep hearing from the boosters of a new arena is that this is needed to bring in more concerts to the area... wrong.
For one thing will Augustans shell out over $100 a ticket (starting) to fill up a 12,000 or 15,000 arena? Not on your life. They cant even barely halfway fill up the current arena when tickets exceed $50.
I notice that Diana Krall is playing the newly renovated Miller Theater in February.. it is a smaller venue under 2000 seats.. much easier to fill a venue like that up at higher ticket prices which some people are more than willing to pay for a concert in a more intimate venue.
For large scale concerts then consider building an amphitheater tailor made for concerts... they can hold more people, cost less to build and maintain and ticket prices can be more affordable.
That is the way to go if Augusta wants to attract more top concert acts.
So far no compelling reason has been made that Augusta needs a very expensive new arena. Just think of what all else the city could do with $200 million

[PJA]

The current arena doesn't attract the types of artists who typically have sold out shows. We get a lot of lower tier legacy acts who no longer are in their prime and who typically don't sell out arenas so of course they aren't going to sell out here either. that doesn't mean we don't need a bigger arena. If we want to attract your big name artists then you definitely need a bigger one. If you don't care about attracting current quality acts, then no we don't need one.

[Carolina Knight]

If a new arena is going to be built in Augusta, it should not be at the Regency Mall site. Sadly, it is back to the drawing board of finding other viable locations.

[GRU_Minion]

If you really want some entertainment, the full video of the commission meeting is available online. The fun starts around 1:40:30 into the video.


Government Meetings OnDemand | Augusta, GA - Official Website

[AUGnative]

Folks... you do not build a sports arena as a primary venue for concerts and performances. It's part of the problem with the current JBA.
Arenas are built primarily for basketball and hockey and other arena sports.. concerts and performances are just secondary to fill in the calendar. Considering Augusta currently has no professional arena sports team and none expressing an interest to move here, just what then is behind the push to build a new arena? A state of the arts perfoming arts center makes much more sense if your goal is to attract ore concerts and performances... or a large outdoor amphitheater like Lakewood.

[Airforceguy]

It seems like the resident idiot of the commission Marion Williams is determined to keep this foolish idea of an arena at Regency Mall alive.

Commissioner Marion Williams, who made the substitute motion to approve the site and extend negotiations that Sias helped formulate during the meeting, has already placed it on this Tuesday’s administrative services committee agenda.

“I don’t care if I don’t have support – I’m going to keep it in their face,” Williams said.

Augusta arena fight not over yet | The Augusta Chronicle

[AUGnative]

The foolish thing here is the whole idea of spending this much tax .one on an arena, not where it is located.