How fitting that the taping of “Family Feud” staring Steve Harvey is about the only event left at Atlanta’s Civic Center.
Atlanta’s decision to sell the eroding landmark touched off a spat between Mayor Kasim Reed and city council members, who claim that Reed doesn’t keep them informed on such plans. The pique fizzled – the council approved the Civic Center sale on a 10-4 vote last week, the AJC reported. But a few dissidents are displeased that Invest Atlanta now can sell the 16-acre Civic Center site without council input.
Council members Felicia Moore, Alex Wan and Michael Bond and Council President Ceasar Mitchell are among those unhappy with the mayor’s unilateral action not only on the Civic Center but plans for Turner Field, Underground Atlanta and Fort McPherson and possibly Morris Brown College.
Underreported is how the Civic Center – named for philanthropist Boisfeulliet Jones a few years ago – sunk into such decline. Once the 4,600-seat arena, with 5,800 square feet of exhibit space, was a cultural jewel. Built in 1967, the Civic Center has welcomed traveling Broadway shows, the Atlanta Opera, national ballet companies, President George W. Bush and cultural events for the 1996 Olympics.
A highlight of an Atlanta childhood used to be birthday parties and other trips to SciTrek, the now defunct science museum that once thrived at the Civic Center. The tarnished old building, still the site of APS high school graduations, now loses $400,000 a year.
As with the Braves’ move to Cobb County, the council keeps chasing a firetruck that’s already left the station. The council will now have little say in what parameters Invest Atlanta – an unelected panel that has amassed power in the Reed years – will set for redevelopment. The delayed anger might spur taxpayers to ask why the council stood by as the Civic Center, under control of the City Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, deteriorated.
As AJC columnist Kyle Wingfield pointed out, another hotel-retail-residential-office plan would compete with similar plans. As Wingfield said, the Civic Center offers an opportunity for creative options. It still shows potential as a performing arts center.
Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium has flourished as a hot spot for indie acts and edgy comics. Downtown Atlanta has the booming Tabernacle as an indie showplace, and the Buckhead Theater, Rialto and other intown venues also draw cutting-edge performers. But with the right management, a refurbished Civic Center could serve as a complement to these spots.
Atlanta cultural lovers have long wanted an opera house, as well as a new more acoustically refined Symphony Hall. An Arthur Blank-promoted fundraising plan for a new Symphony Hall at the Atlanta Arts Center failed to gain traction. The ASO probably would never consider leaving the Arts Center. Still, state of the art music venue at the Civic Center location would boost Atlanta on the cultural landscape.
Other ideas easily pop up. Another science museum. An arts high school to serve all of Georgia, such as several Southern states have.
The Civic Center sits in a nondescript area – a marketing gambit to call it SoNo – South of North Avenue – apparently was a no-show. Midtown claims it, but it’s also on the edge of Virginia-Highland and downtown. The standard multiuse development would bring needed permanent residents and businesses. However, cultural attractions are a strong economic stimulant.
A gleaming new cultural venue at the Civic Center would give the young singles and intown hipsters a great new place to mingle. We old folks might like to visit too if feeling frisky.
Electric car paradise
Quick – what metro area stands No. 2 in the country for electric car sales, behind only San Francisco? If you said Atlanta, claim your Georgia rebate and turn over a new Leaf from Nissan.
Yes, the Wall Street Journal reported last week that bad-air champion Atlanta is booming in electric car sales because of a state tax rebate of up to $5,000 for buying an electric car. Companies like Coca-Cola have installed charging sta-tions for employees, the WSJ said.
Georgia Power also promotes Leafs and Teslas, with a special rate and website promotion.
While electric cars reduce pollution, some legislators see the benefit as too generous. Rep. Church Martin of Alpharetta has proposed a bill to end the credit. The proposal died in the last legislative session, giving electric cars a new jolt.
