- January 27th, 2007, 9:49 am
#56367
Liberty University would donate land for a regional civic center and become its primary tenant if Lynchburg or Campbell County would agree to build the facility, a school official said.
But Lynchburg’s city manager questions whether such a project would be worth the cost.
“I am asked from time to time about a city civic center, and my typical response is, ‘Show me one that’s not subsidized by taxpayers’ money. Show me one that pays for itself and we can talk about that,’” said Lynchburg City Manager Kimball Payne.
Jerry Falwell Jr., LU’s vice chancellor, said Lynchburg or Campbell County has a unique opportunity because the university would be a willing long-term participant in the project.
“When we have ball games and other events, we would pay for it in return for the use of it,” he said. “If the city or county aren’t going to build it, we’ll have to look at building something ourselves. If we have to build a new facility, just for basketball and chapel services, the city and county will be missing a great opportunity. A town this size needs a civic center.”
Falwell Jr. said LU has two potential sites for the civic center. One of those sites is near two proposed tunnels leading from the campus to Wards Road. The other is near the intersection of U.S. 460 and southbound U.S. 29.
The Lynchburg school, founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell, has outgrown the Vines Center, which is used for convocations, graduations, basketball games and events like Winterfest, a three-day Christian New Year’s celebration.
“Winterfest has maxed out our facility,” said Ron Godwin, LU’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “We maxed out the Vines Center. We’ve maxed out the hotels.”
Falwell Jr. said a civic center would serve as a stimulus to local businesses, which would benefit from the traffic a civic center would create.
Payne said the biggest question is whether a civic center would generate enough money - even when considering its impact on local hotels, restaurants and shops - to pay for itself.
Such a center likely would cost tens of millions of dollars, he said. That would means millions of dollars a year in debt service and operating costs.
LU athletic director Jeff Barber said a 20,000-seat building could cost about $70 million.Payne said he’s unsure whether Lynchburg citizens would be willing to support a subsidized civic center.
“That’s not to say a partnership (between LU and the city) couldn’t work in some way,” he said.
Campbell County Administrator R. David Laurrell said a civic center has been on the minds of the region’s business and government officials for about 10 years.
The project never got off the ground, largely because other needs kept arising, Laurrell said.
“If Liberty is starting to have a conversation about it, my guess is that it may be moved up in terms of being more practical or more feasible,” he said.
Like Payne, Laurrell said a civic center would have to be self-supporting.
“I don’t know that it would have to be revenue neutral right up front,” he said. “But I think that there would have to be some kind of plan that the value that it brings to the community is equal to the cost.”
Because of LU’s religious beliefs, some events, such as secular rock concerts, cannot be held at a university-owned facility. A publicly owned civic center could be opened to all types of events.
One possible thorny issue would be serving alcohol at a venue on or near LU’s campus.
“For better or worse, many conventions frequently have alcohol in some form or fashion,” Payne said. “I don’t know that that would be a stumbling block, but it would have to be addressed.”
The Rev. Jerry Falwell, LU’s chancellor, said the sale of alcohol at events not sponsored by the university would be a non-issue.
“That’s a common sense thing,” he said. “If the city of Lynchburg or Campbell County builds a property, which they rent to us for special uses, what they do with the building with all their events is none of our business.”
Falwell said many restaurants near the campus already sell alcohol.
Several years ago, a civic center ranked high on the wish list of those people who participated in Regional Renaissance, a series of public meetings that gauged the interests of Central Virginia’s residents.
This week, readers of The Burg, a local arts, culture and entertainment weekly produced by The News & Advance, ranked a civic center as the area’s No. 1 need.
Falwell Jr. said a civic center might need to be a joint venture of several municipalities.
“Something like this should be a city and county project,” he said. “This is something they should work together on. It would put them five steps ahead of the game if they had a major university with all its functions as a user. If there was a civic center within walking distance, we’d be using it five days a week.”
Godwin said a civic center would likely broaden the types of events the school sponsors.
“If we had a true civic center, we would put on events that we don’t start to put on right now,” he said. “I’d bring a full-blown western rodeo to this campus in a heartbeat. It would pull in students in huge numbers.”
- By Dalegarz1