Trying to logically recreate how Charlotte came to spend $265 million on an Uptown arena, $167 million upfront and $11 million a year on a convention center, $150 million (at least) on a NASCAR Hall of Fame, $16 million upfront and $2.5 million a year on the $138 million Westin hotel, and $140 million while forgoing property tax revenue on the Wachovia tower/Arts complex, not to mention a cool half-billion on Uptown choo-choos, I truly think I found the source of the problem: George Shinn.
Or more specifically, the success Shinn’s early Hornets had, leading the NBA in attendence and generally convincing city leaders Charlotte was big time and could only get bigger. Money that flowed into the city’s orbit via those sold-out games in the late-80s was the seed corn for the new convention center dreams. Those dreams were pushed along by the conviction that Uptown had to have some new public attraction as the Coliseum was waaay over off of Tyvola. Together that money and will ran over repeated warnings that a new convention center would never pay for itself. By 1991-92, the die was cast, the script was written. We are yet to see the final act.
Now that Charlotte has to live with this painful reality, the spectacle of throwing millions of dollars away, year after year, perhaps there is some comfort in socking a familiar punching bag along the way. Not much, but, hey, it is all we’ve got.
Wonder how it ends?
