1736 Magazine - Vision for the Future

Artist’s renderings show the proposed new James Brown
Arena and Bell Auditorium entertainment complex.
[IMAGES COURTESY OF PERKINS & WILL]
Inspired by diagonals, such as
Brown’s microphone stand and a
golf swing, the 10-story arena is
capped with a pentagonal dome
and will be joined with the Bell
Auditorium by shared office,
kitchen and other space.
Its $228 million price tag does
not include adding an $18.5 million
parking deck, $16.7 million ballroom
or $4 million ice system.
The project will get a jump-start
if voters approve special purpose
local option sales tax 8, which
appears on the March 16 ballot
includes $25 million for the arena.
The authority also is using $8
million it recouped from refinancing
an earlier project for which it issued
bonds – the Augusta Marriott at the
Convention Center parking garage –
to get the project rolling, Usry said.
“That will take us to the point
of where we’ll put a shovel in the
ground, which we’re hoping will be
a year from now,” Usry said.
The authority will continue the
important process of securing
buy-in by the public as it prepares a
bond issue for the remaining funds
to place on the November ballot,
Usry said.
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