The N&R’s Allen Johnson ponders naming rights for the Greensboro Coliseum:

The sale of naming rights to a publicly owned building is a touchy issue, but it’s worth pursuing. After all, the name RBC Center in Raleigh brings in $4 million a year. Coincidentally, Charlotte’s new Bobcats Arena is still seeking a corporate sponsor and Winston-Salem’s Joel Coliseum is considering the option.

But Winston leaders wouldn’t dare risk angering citizens by altering the delicate chemistry of the arena’s current name, Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, which honors both a Congressional Medal of Honor winner and all Forsyth County veterans. So they’ll more likely seek to sell the name of the coliseum’s annex only, or of the umbrella sports complex that contains the coliseum.

Greensboro doesn’t face quite the same obstacle. Because the coliseum complex originally was built as a memorial to World War II veterans, both Brown and Barber see keeping part of the facility that formally acknowledges that, War Memorial Auditorium, under that name. And of course, Barber also sees the opportunity to rename Lee Street and High Point Road the “War Memorial Corridor,” or something similar.

I also read with interest Jeri Rowe’s column on the Lee Street corridor. It’s clear crime is the problem, and clearing out the drug dealers and prosititutes would certainly encourage businesses to locate there. It would also be considerably cheaper than the (no doubt) expensive facelift the city is considering.

Not that clearing out the criminals wouldn’t cost money.Where does the city think guys like “John” would go? Hopefully not to another part of town. It’s also complicated, as Lorraine Ahearn’s column illustrates.

Which brings us back to the issue of the new jail. Commissioner Billy Yow, the taxpayers’ buddy, says the county has been talking about treatment as an alterantive to incarceration for years now while the cost for a new jail just kept rising. Forget, it, Yow said, just build it with COPs. For Yow to advocate that option shows he believes we really need a new jail. But I still say put it on a bond referendum and resort to COPs if it’s rejected.