EDITORIAL: City Auditorium deserves to be on SPLOST list
The Macon City Auditorium has been the grande dame of Macon since 1923, standing watch over the city. The building features a copper dome that some say is the largest in the world, and it boasts a Don Carlos Dubois and Wilbur Kurtz mural depicting Macon's history from Ferdinand DeSoto's visit in 1540 to World War I. On the auditorium's main-level floor, epic basketball games between Ballard Hudson and Appling were played.
The facility has seen it all: symphonies to the Allman Brothers Band and Merle Haggard; Symphony Pops to comedians to B.B. King; and recently a sold-out house for Jeffrey Osborne. It also has been the site of sadder events -- none sadder than the funeral of Otis Redding on Dec. 18, 1967, when it was filled beyond capacity with artists and mourners from James Brown and Percy Sledge to Johnny Taylor.
The building was 42 years old then. Now as it approaches 91 years old, it's showing its share of wear and tear. Like anyone of that age, it doesn't work as well as it used to and doesn't fit the needs of a new, modern city. That copper roof leaks, and it lacks handicap accessibility. The dressing rooms are too small, and the load in/load out areas are inconvenient and difficult to maneuver. Wallpaper is peeling, the old curtains are dusty, and tables and chairs have been in service too long and need to be replaced. Those are just a few items that are known about. There could be more issues lurking just beneath the surface in a building that old. The estimate for upgrades could run as high as $15 million. Part of that cost could be $1 million to restore the 1925 Moller Opus 4177 pipe organ that resides in the building but hasn't been played in decades.
However, the main focus of any upgrade should be maintaining the historical nature of the building while bringing the tables, chairs, kitchen facilities, bathrooms (which, for the most part are downstairs) up to 21st century standards. People pay a great deal of money to rent the facility, and those who attend events there pay a healthy ticket price.
Where will the money come from? It will have to be one of the items on the next special purpose local option sales tax list that is in development right now. Macon-Bibb County can't afford to pay for the upgrades any other way. The final list should express the leadership's priorities over the length of the SPLOST. We think the City Auditorium deserves to be on it.
This story was originally published February 13, 2016 at 3:13 PM with the headline "EDITORIAL: City Auditorium deserves to be on SPLOST list ."