The Risks and Possibilities of a Civic Center

Given the financial stress the state is putting on its localities, the timing of a new proposal for a civic center in Lynchburg may not be great. It’s a proposal, nonetheless, that’s worth looking into.

The decades-old subject came up last week when Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. proposed that a coalition of regional government officials coordinate a study of the possibility of a sports, entertainment and convention center for the region. The study would be based on the premise that LU would rent it regularly for university events and that LU would help pay for the study.

Any facility that grew out of such marketing and feasibility studies would be owned by a regional government authority and not by the university. A marketing study could cost as much as $60,000 and later studies could cost as much as $210,000 under figures presented to directors of Region 2000’s Local Government Council.

There’s nothing new about proposals for a civic center for Lynchburg. Some 20 years ago, the Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce paid for a study that determined a civic center was not feasible, even though there was widespread support for one.

A decade ago, residents identified a civic center as a top priority in a survey by Regional Renaissance. Rex Hammond, chamber president, recalls that he asked City Council at the time to consider moving ahead. “I didn’t find any takers at that time,” he said last week.

What is new this time around, as Gary Christie, executive director of the Local Government Council, has pointed out is “that a university now is willing to begin discussions about being a major user of the facility. Whether that makes a difference in the financial numbers is really what this study (would be) about.”

Liberty officials decided to raise the idea when it became clear it had outgrown the 8,000-seat Vines Center. LU does not want to own the facility, but would help pay for the feasibility study and could pay for some of the construction costs as an advance rent payment, Falwell said.

One possible location for the civic center, he added, is land where LU once planned to build the Crossroads Colonnade Shopping Center.

Directors of the Local Government Council considered the proposal last week and said they needed more information before they could take it back to their elected governing bodies.

Lynchburg City Manager Kimball Payne worried that debt service alone on a $100 million facility would amount to a subsidy the localities would have to pay, assuming that operating expenses were covered by revenues generated by the building.

Bedford County Supervisor John Sharp was optimistic about the possibilities, saying that he and others in the community have wanted a civic center for years. “This is the first time I thought it’s possible,” he said. “If we have a public-private partnership, we might be able to save the taxpayers money and get something the taxpayers have wanted.”

Falwell said any successful venture would be based on regional cooperation. “With all of the counties participating, and the city, this is something that could benefit everybody in the whole Lynchburg metropolitan area,” he said. “We think that Liberty could be a big part of that to help make it happen.”

Region 2000’s Local Government Council will get back together next month for further discussion of the civic center proposal. While these are not the best of financial times, the proposal is worth a hearing that takes a close look into the region’s future.