While most of us appreciate the voluminous time and effort on Asheville City Council’s part, interfacing with citizens on the “face” of Asheville, as expressed in the future name of the Civic Center, is central to the core of what Asheville is. Shame on Council for (seemingly) hiding behind time and circumstance and not exposing this very important issue to those they serve.
Asheville is not a run-of-the-mill city. Do we need corporate branding to define who we are? Do we need corporate money to dictate our taste? If the city residents and businesses don’t weigh in on these significant, if not pivotal, issues then Asheville is what? How does U.S. Cellular Center sound to you? It sounds pretty crappy to me.
Now the Asheville Civic Center sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Even Asheville Entertainment Zone sounds pretty good, comparatively.
Let’s continue to make a difference by being different!
— Bernie Byrne
Asheville
Subscribe to XpressMail. Free Sneak Peek. Every Week.
Want to know what's coming out in Xpress this week before the paper even hits the stands?
We've got your free sneak peek, along with deals available in XpressMail, our weekly email newsletter. (It's the best we can do without time travel.)
-
Comments
-
Related Articles
-
Comments
Make a comment
"ow does U.S. Cellular Center sound to you?"
It sounds profitable. I like that.
.................
By timothypeck
11/16/2011
Actually, the problem most people have with it seems to be that it is a very low amount, which will not end up helping the city beyond a superficial measure.
Do you still 'like that'?
By bill smith
11/16/2011
weh weh weh!!!!!! Would you prefer ticket prices go up? If you haven't noticed it's been going on everywhere for decades. Define who you are? If you let the name of a run-of-the-mill civic center define who YOU are, well that's on you man. I'll let the things that I DO define who I am.
By bones
11/16/2011
Profitable for who exactly?
By Christopher C NC
11/16/2011
Would you prefer ticket prices go up?
It looks like none of this relatively small amount of money will go towards actual needed renovation - it will go towards bells & whistles like new lights, sound system, TV monitors, food court, etc., what the US Cellular press statement called "enhancing the fan experience."
The long term maintenance issues won't be helped at all by this deal. It's just a way to try to get ESPN and other networks to cover events here, resulting in free advertising for US Cellular.
By Barry Summers
11/16/2011
How is it free advertisement if they paid for the naming rights?
It would be naive to think that this deal doesn't benefit the civic center when all their doing is giving up the name and they're getting money out of it. US Cellular doesn't dictate where the money is spent, the civic center does and if they want to spend it on the "fan experience" then that's their choice.
By bones
11/17/2011
I think it will be good for the city. It will bring a few jobs for people and maybe, hopefully, have some better concerts and events. We may not like it, but, the city of Asheville is growing big time.
By justin
11/23/2011