Tag Archives: Amarillo Civic Center

entertainment news, local news

Cultural District: ready for some tangible results

Amarillo wants to become a destination for those who seek a cultural awakening.

Given that I’m out of the loop these days as a former print journalist, I am not entirely privy to the nuts and bolts of what is going on in every corner of the city.

I once wrote a blog for Panhandle PBS. The final installment in my series of blogs dealt with the then-pending designation of an Arts and Cultural District for Amarillo.

Here is what I wrote for the final time for Panhandle PBS.

The Texas Arts Commission eventually approved Amarillo’s request for an Arts and Cultural District designation. As I wrote in April 2016, I consider this to be a huge step forward in the city’s evolution.

I wrote then about the impact that the arts have on the Texas economy: The districts apply for grants through the Texas Commission for the Arts, which estimates that the arts generate approximately $5.1 billion annually to the Texas economy; of that total, about $320 million comes from sales tax revenue.

The city has many ways to measure the impact of the cultural district. Suffice to say, though, that the city is making some mighty large strides toward reaping the rewards of a beefed-up arts and entertainment community.

Allow  me to turn briefly to the construction of that downtown ballpark/multipurpose event venue that is well under way. The soreheads around the city keep yapping about the ballpark being a single-purpose venue: It will be the home field beginning in April 2019 to a AA minor-league baseball team that will move here from San Antonio.

But as the saying might go, “There’s more ‘there’ there.” Or at least that is the hope of those who want to see the MPEV take root and grow. There well could be plans to stage community events in the shiny new venue: concerts, for example; or perhaps some communitywide gatherings featuring food and music.

The cultural district does have plenty with which to work. I think of the musical “Texas” performed during the summer in Palo Duro Canyon, the Broadway series of musicals at the Civic Center and the Amarillo Little Theater.

There’s plenty of ground to plow here. Plenty of ways to market the city’s art and its myriad entertainment offerings.

I will join the rest of the community and await the big payoff. I don’t know when it will arrive, but I’m sure I’ll recognize it when it does.

business news, entertainment news, local news, Sports news

MPEV ground broken; city bolts toward brighter future

A crowd of about 200 or 300 folks came today to a vacant lot across from Amarillo City Hall. There was some back-slapping, congratulatory wishes and plenty of smiles to be seen.

And for a very good reason.

They broke ground today on a $45 million entertainment venue — aka The Ballpark — that is likely to help lead downtown Amarillo toward a future that few of us thought was possible.

I do believe the future is a bright one.

The multipurpose event venue has been called a “catalyst” that would spark downtown Amarillo’s revival and rebirth. They lit that catalyst this afternoon. May the spark now light an economic fire.

City officials welcomed executives from the Elmore Group, owners of the new AA minor-league baseball team that will play ball at the MPEV when it’s done, no later than April 2019. Elmore execs declared their intention to make Amarillo the nation’s top minor-league baseball city.

Given the hope and optimism I witnessed today under a bright winter sun, I have a hunch many of those in attendance today believe that high-minded goal is well within reach. I hope it comes true.

I am acutely aware that a big crowd at a ceremonial groundbreaking doesn’t guarantee success. Construction has to proceed quickly. It should be done at or under budget.

The MPEV will need to open with lots of people sitting in its seats to watch the baseball team that is moving here from San Antonio. Many high-profile supporters of the MPEV — and I can cite retired Amarillo College President Paul Matney as one of them — have contended that Amarillo is a “good baseball town.” We will determine the legitimacy of that claim in due course.

The catalyst also is slated to bring more business into the downtown district. It will help fill a shiny new hotel and a parking garage across the street from the Civic Center. It also might become a good promotional tool for the city to lure more convention business, which will bring presumably deep-pocketed visitors to Amarillo.

That’s all in the immediate future for a city that has embarked on a serious makeover of its central business district.

Today, they broke ground on the next big step on the city’s journey toward a brighter future.

Now … let’s get busy.

business news, local news

‘In the Mood’ puts one in the mood

I am “In the Mood” to say something good about downtown Amarillo’s progress toward a more modern, energetic future.

My wife and I just watched a grand musical production featuring the kind of big-band music that both of our fathers would have relished. It was called “In the Mood” and it featured a troupe of dancers, singers, a “big band” — imagine that — and some patriotic tributes to veterans and active-duty military personnel.

I won’t bore you with a critique of the show, as I am not an entertainment critic.

I do, though, want to extol yet again what I see is some serious progress in downtown’s extreme makeover.

It’s happening, man.

The musical took place at the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, which is clearly the finest entertainment venue in Amarillo. The sound in the hall is pitch perfect. There ain’t a bad seat in the house.

The performing arts center, too, is just one element of the growing and changing face of downtown. That Embassy Suites is looking like an actual hotel; the parking garage next to it has risen out of the pavement and dirt. Many of the rest of us are awaiting construction of that ballpark, which I hope begins soon, although I am not yet holding my breath.

A friend of mine who also happens to work for the Convention and Visitors Council informed me a couple of weeks ago that the Embassy Suites is doing precisely what it is intended to do: lure convention business to Amarillo that the city had been missing because it lacked adequate convention lodging downtown. He said the city has booked conventions at the Civic Center through 2022.

I haven’t even mentioned — until this very moment — all the other construction that’s underway with new businesses sprouting up on abandoned blocks throughout the downtown area.

Business is brisk in our downtown district.

OK, so tonight’s gig at the Globe-News Center was just one event. We’ve had other one-night stands at that venue as well as at the Civic Center Auditorium and the Cal Farley Coliseum across the street.

We left the event tonight and then drove home believing that the city’s future seems a good bit brighter than it was just a little while ago.

It’s certainly shining like a blinding light compared to what we saw when we arrived on the High Plains more than 22 years ago.

business news, local news

MPEV takes another step forward

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They’re starting to knock down a vacant building in downtown Amarillo.

What will take its place? City officials want the new occupant on the property next City Hall to be a ballpark where a minor-league team will play some hardball.

http://www.newschannel10.com/story/33652423/demolition-begins-on-coca-cola-building-to-make-way-for-mpev

It’s called for the moment a multipurpose event venue. There will be other activities taking place at this venue than just baseball. But the city is in the midst of negotiating for a relocation of the San Antonio Missions to Amarillo, where they would play ball in the $45 million venue.

It’s not a done deal just yet.

San Antonio is trying to lure a Class AAA team to replace the AA team that wants to relocate. In order for the Missions to head north, someone will have to take the field in the Alamo City.

Meanwhile, the now-vacant Coca-Cola distribution center is being knocked down in Amarillo. They’ll clear the lot of debris in short order.

Then it gets serious. The city needs a design. It needs a firm cost for the venue. It needs a team to suit up and take the field.

I will admit to skepticism that the current City Council would be able to move this project as far along as it has. It has proven me wrong — which at some level is no great shakes, given that I’m wrong more than I am right. I believe I had reason to be skeptical, given that the new council members had expressed some doubt about the wisdom of the entire project.

The demolition of the Coke center, though, does give me renewed hope that Amarillo’s downtown revival is proceeding more or less as projected.

We’ve got that hotel going up across Buchanan Street next to the parking garage. Voters will decide several propositions on their municipal ballot; one of them includes a proposed renovation and expansion of the Civic Center.

All we need now is an affiliated baseball team to sign on the dotted line. Then we need them ready to play ball.

My optimism is strong.

local news

Expand and improve Civic Center? Absolutely!

ama civic center

“SHALL the City Council of the City of Amarillo, Texas, be authorized to issue general obligation bonds of the City in the principal amount of $83,430,000 for permanent public improvements and public purposes, to wit:  constructing, improving, expanding, renovating and equipping civic center facilities and the acquisition of land therefor; such bonds to mature serially or otherwise over a period not to exceed twenty-five (25) years from their date, to be issued and sold in one or more series at any price or prices and to bear interest at any rate or rates (fixed, floating, variable or otherwise) as shall be determined within the discretion of the City Council at the time of issuance or sale of the bonds; and whether ad valorem taxes shall be levied upon all taxable property in the City sufficient to pay the annual interest and provide a sinking fund to pay the bonds at maturity?”

* Proposition 5 on the Nov. 8 Amarillo municipal ballot

That might be the longest sentence ever written in English. Ever!

But it speaks directly to an issue that has been on the top of Amarillo residents’ minds ever since, oh, we began talking about building the multipurpose event venue across the street from City Hall.

Amarillo City Council has put forward seven ballot propositions. This one, No. 5, deals directly with the Civic Center.

This is the first in a series of blog posts — as I promised earlier — commenting on the propositions coming to us this November.

The city asks residents to spend $83 million and change to improve, rehabilitate and “expand” the Civic Center.

Those who objected to the MPEV said the Civic Center ought to be a higher priority for the city than building a new ballpark. They cited the city’s lack of convention meeting space. Meanwhile, pro-MPEV forces argued that the new venue would be a great attraction for people to venture downtown for an evening of entertainment — which doesn’t argue directly against Civic Center improvements.

The Civic Center is a decent venue for conventions. Sure, it could stand some improvements. The Cal Farley Coliseum isn’t exactly a first-rate sports venue. It’s cramped, with limited seating for hockey and indoor football, although fairness requires me to say that neither the hockey team or the football team play to many sellout crowds during their respective seasons.

Still, an $83 million price tag would seem to do quite a bit for the Civic Center, which has been standing along Buchanan Street since the late 1960s.

Here’s our chance, then, to improve this venue to make it an even better draw for convention business.

Hey, we’ve got that five-star Embassy Suites hotel going up across the street. The folks staying there ought to be able to do their business in a first-cabin convention center as well.

local news, political news

City is getting its infrastructure act together

childers

I’ve been yapping and yammering for a year about all the “change” that arrived at Amarillo City Hall with the election of three new City Council members.

Some of it has been good. Some, well, not so good.

I want to address one of the “good” changes that is developing as I write this brief blog post.

Amarillo interim City Manager Terry Childers has laid out the case for the city to ask its residents — the bosses, if you will — this question: How much are you willing to pay for some critical infrastructure needs?

He spoke to Panhandle PBS on Thursday night in a “Live Here” segment that, to my ears, illustrates a fundamental shift in the city’s approach to applying good government.

Here’s the interview:

http://video.kacvtv.org/video/2365817588/

Amarillo has long boasted about its low municipal property tax rate. It’s the lowest of any city “of significance” in Texas, Childers said. The issue, though, is that it’s not enough to take care of those capital needs and “maintenance and operation” the city must meet.

Childers talked about the need to repair and replace roads, sewer lines and to modernize the Civic Center. How is the city going to do that? It has to ask the residents to pony up the dough.

There might be a 1-, 2-, 3-, or 4-cent increase in the municipal property tax rate. Each penny of increase in the amount per $100 assessed property valuation will enable the city to borrow funds to pay for the improvements.

Given that the city is virtually debt free, Childers seems to suggest that the time has come to ask for residents for some help in paying for these needs.

Amarillo already is undergoing a serious makeover of its downtown district. There’s already been some public commitment, but the bulk of the money is coming from private investors. Very soon, the city will start knocking down the old Coca-Cola distribution center to make room for that multipurpose event venue. I remain delighted to see the changes that have occurred already downtown — and await eagerly the changes that are about to come.

But the city needs to do a lot of work to fix its streets, sewer lines and other infrastructure amenities that we all need.

Childers is making a strong case for those needs.

local news

A ‘cultural district’ for Amarillo? Fascinating

center city

As if Amarillo isn’t going through enough change with its evolving downtown landscape, now comes an interesting concept from Center City.

Let’s create a cultural district designed to promote the arts in this city. So says Center City director Beth Duke, who believes the city is ripe for a grant that could be applied to promoting the arts.

It would run from Western Street to Grant Street. It would include several art venues, such as the Little Theater, the Globe-News performing arts center, Sunset Center Art Galleries and the Civic Center.

I’m still trying to wrap my noggin around the notion.

However, as with most new ideas, this one seems worth a close look.

According to NewsChannel 10: “We can promote it as a unified cultural district for tourism,” said Duke. “We can go out for special grants, and it may lead to some more events and some more partnerships.”

The city could be venturing into some fascinating new territory here.

Duke said the city will apply soon for the grant and will learn fairly quickly after that whether it will receive funds to apply to this concept.

The proverbial light bulb came on recently in my own head about the downtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone. TIRZ board chairman Scott Bentley explained it to me in simple enough language for even little ol’ me to understand it.

So it might have to be with the cultural district idea that Center City is pitching.

I’m willing to listen to it.

The payoff seems a bit distant as I consider how the creation of such a district would work.

Then again, isn’t that why God created marketing specialists to figure these things out?

 

 

local news, national news, political news

Turn the former president loose

Close view of a collection of VOTE badges. 3D render with HDRI lighting and raytraced textures.

Bill Clinton has made his 2016 campaign debut on behalf of his wife.

The reports are that Donald Trump is casting a large shadow over the former president’s initial appearance. Never mind. It will not diminish President Clinton’s drawing power.

The ex-Democratic president is going to start stumping for his wife, the presumptive Democratic frontrunner. Take this to the bank: He’s going to be — to borrow a term from Trump — a “huuuuuge” asset.

How do I know this?

Well, let’s flash back to 2008. Hillary Clinton was in the midst of a heated primary campaign against a fellow U.S. senator, Barack H. Obama. The Texas primary was coming up and the race wasn’t yet decided.

Hillary decided to call on Bill to make a campaign appearance for her, of all places, in Amarillo.

The former president’s advance team did its usual stellar job of preparing for the event. Bill Clinton would speak at the Amarillo Civic Center.

He came here — into the belly of the proverbial beast. This is blood-red Republican territory. We are the reddest part of the reddest state in the country. Look far and wide and you’ll find hardly Democrats holding elective office in any of the 26 counties that comprise the Texas Panhandle.

Bill Clinton came to the Panhandle in the midst of the 2008 campaign and he was met by a standing-room-only crowd. The crowd packed the Civic Center Grand Plaza; it spilled out into the hallway.

People came from all over the region to hear the former president. I have knowledge of a good number of dedicated Republicans who attended the event because they wanted to hear what the former Democratic Leader of the Free World had to say on behalf of his wife.

Will he replicate his astonishing drawing power in the 2016 campaign?

Here’s a word to the wise: Do not bet against him.

 

 

national news

Rosa Parks: an American icon

rosa-parks-84620846-E

Sixty years ago today, a 42-year-old woman became an American hero, an icon.

She might not have known at the moment of her heroic act that’s how she’d be remembered, but that’s what happened.

Rosa Parks was riding on a public bus in Montgomery, Ala. The bus was crowded and Parks was sitting while some passengers were standing. One of them told the bus driver to order Parks to stand up, to give her eat to him. She refused.

Parks was African-American; the passenger who demanded her seat was a white male. One did do such things in Montgomery, Ala., in 1955.

Parks was arrested, booked into jail.

At that moment a middle-age woman took her place among the legions of Americans who fought for equal rights for all citizens.

She would lead a bus boycott of the Montgomery transit system. Parks would become the face of bravery in the fight against racial discrimination.

She had grown tired, she said, of “giving in.”

On that day in a capital city of one Dixie’s states, she didn’t give in. Six decades later, the nation still salutes her bravery.

Rosa Parks wasn’t a gifted orator. One didn’t hear her make compelling speeches before monstrous crowds, a la Martin Luther King Jr. No, all she had to do was simply be there.

Parks made an appearance in Amarillo; I believe it was the late 1990s. My wife and I felt compelled to see and hear her. The meeting room at the Civic Center was packed.

Rosa Parks was introduced. She strode to the microphone. Parks said some truly forgettable things and then sat down. It didn’t matter one single bit that Parks didn’t stir our souls. Just seeing her — being in the same room with her — was enough for any of us present that day.

Parks died in 2005. Her courage will live forever.

 

local news

Dear Council: Do not drag your feet

ama city council

Dear Mayor Paul Harpole and the rest of the Amarillo City Council:

This is an open letter to y’all. It serves as a piece of unsolicited advice in the wake of Tuesday’s big election … not that you aren’t going to be getting a lot of such advice from constituents.

The voters spoke their minds. Yes, it was close. In reality, though, it wasn’t a razor-thin margin that produced a victory for those — such as me — who favored the multipurpose event venue that includes a 4,500-seat ballpark.

I wish the turnout had been larger. With all the sound and fury preceding the balloting on Tuesday, I was hoping more folks would have bothered to vote. A 22,444-vote turnout isn’t all that great. But, hey, why quibble over that just yet?

The 4-percentage point margin isn’t so tiny. Presidents of the United States have been elected with far less of a margin than that.

My advice to you now is simple.

Ratify the results. Do it unanimously. We’ve heard some rumbling around Amarillo that one of you might want to hold out. I hope that’s not the case.

You’ve got a chance to discuss these results in the open, in front of the public. I encourage you to do so. Do not fabricate some bogus reason to do it behind closed doors.

Once you do ratify the results, then by all means keep discussing the developments relating to the MPEV in the open. You’ve all talked about transparency and its value to the democratic process. Here’s your chance to prove you’re all men of your word.

If there’s going to be any tinkering with the project, then be sure you do so under the glare of public scrutiny.

But the majority of those voted on the MPEV made another statement that’s more implied than explicit. They want action taken and they do not want you to dawdle over it.

Amarillo’s voters decided to go forward with this $32 million project and it is incumbent on you to do so in a timely fashion. We’ve had enough drama as it is. The time to rally behind a single purpose has arrived.

We’ve lost three senior city administrators just since the May election. You need to hire a city manager, who then needs to hire an assistant city manager and a city attorney. I truly wish you luck in trying to recruit a top-flight municipal administrator. Hire that person, lay down your policy — and then get the hell out of the way.

Amarillo’s voters have taken a big step toward the future with the affirmative vote on the MPEV. A downtown hotel is coming, too. At some point we’ll all need to talk about how to expand the Civic Center.

Gentlemen, the time has arrived for you get real busy.

Right now …