Earlier this month, three ACC Commissioners voted against issuing revenue bonds to help fund a proposed 8,500-seat arena to be managed by the Classic Center Authority. Even though the commission ended up approving this latest round of bond funding, their support for the project has declined significantly while construction costs continue to mount, potentially putting the project’s completion in jeopardy.
The Classic Center Arena is expected to open in early 2024 and would host concerts, sports tournaments and other events, driving tourism to Athens. It would create 600 new jobs, generate $30 million in economic activity and would pay for itself within three years, according to the Classic Center’s website. Commissioners have already approved the issuance of about $80 million in revenue bonds in total to help pay for the project, in addition to $34 million in SPLOST 2020 funding approved by ACC voters. Construction began in June.
Despite the potential benefits, this project has been controversial with the public and with commissioners from the very beginning. For example, Commissioner Melissa Link voted against approving the final SPLOST list in 2019 specifically out of opposition to the arena project, and she hasn’t grown more favorable to it recently.
At the August 2 commission meeting, Link called the project a “bloated boondoggle.” Along with Commissioners Mariah Parker and Jesse Houle, she was one of three who voted against issuing revenue bonds to fund the arena’s construction.
Most of the new jobs to be created by the arena don’t pay very well, which is the reason why Parker and Houle do not support the project. In addition, these commissioners worry that other community benefits they say they were promised may fail to materialize.
When commissioners finalized the SPLOST 2020 project list in 2019, they called for a child or elder care center to be created as part of the arena project, depending on the availability of funding. But Parker says that the Classic Center Authority has never moved beyond the “faint promise” of a childcare center towards something more tangible. In fact, Parker now regrets ever supporting the inclusion of the arena in SPLOST 2020 and promises to fight to improve the project.
“In reflection, I feel somewhat naive for supporting [the arena] in the first place,” Parker said. “I want to publicly apologize for supporting it and for being somewhat complicit in letting it float along, feeling inevitable, instead of raising these challenges earlier.”
Likewise, Commissioner Jesse Houle expressed dismay that the Classic Center has not committed to paying its workers a living wage as defined by the MIT Living Wage Calculator for a single adult with no children, a figure which currently stands at $15.89 per hour.
“We keep raising the same concerns and not getting anything concrete, captured in writing, not getting any substantive action on things this body has repeatedly reiterated are important regarding community benefit and wages,” Houle said. “We’re dumping ever more money into a project that I don’t see any reason to believe is going to pay people enough to live here.”
Arena construction costs have continued to mount due in part to the increasing price of building materials, but also because rocky terrain and contaminated soil were recently discovered at the construction site. This rock and soil will need to be removed as the first step in construction. Although the project is still projected to stay within the $135 million budget set by the mayor and commission in January, Houle objected to the increased cost and even suggested that they should consider pulling the plug on the entire project.
“As the cost of this project continues to go up and up and up, an argument could be made that it is becoming infeasible,” Houle said.
In the event that the commission finds this or any SPLOST project to be officially infeasible, they could redirect the money to another purpose, such as property tax reduction, as long as they have voter approval to do so.
The arena’s future
While the Classic Center Authority remains committed to the arena project, they may need to do more to shore up commission support as construction continues. As mentioned above, three commissioners have withdrawn support for the project barring a solid commitment from the Classic Center to pay living wages to their employees and to construct an elder or childcare center somewhere in their growing complex of buildings.
Commissioners Tim Denson and Carol Myers have not yet withdrawn their support for the arena, and their votes may be necessary in coming months for this project to continue.
“Moving forward, we do need to make sure the Classic Center is owning up to the promises they made,” Denson said. “There is no excuse for people who are going to be a part of this facility to not be paid at least $15 an hour. There is no excuse for us not to have childcare provided somewhere in here.”
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7 thoughts on “Commissioners question Classic Center Arena benefits and feasibility”
As a tax-paying citizen, I agree with the 4 commissioners that employees need to be paid a living wage. This seems inexcusable. What are Classic Center employees paid?
The Classic Center says they pay their workers a living wage according to the 2 adults, no kids number, which is currently $12.16. I would guess they pay at least that much. I tried to talk with Paul Cramer for this article but after an initial response he stopped replying to my requests for information.
This is typical of him.
Mm any of these jobs aren’t “full time jobs”. They’re as needed depending on the events scheduled. That needs to be considered by those screaming for a “living wage” for some of these jobs
Exactly !
Employers hiring people like contractors or independent workers not tied to the employer is equally concerning. Often, people essentially bear the burden of full time hours because they are expected to be available at all times, but are only paid at the whim of the employer’s needs.
Also, these jobs are paid hourly. So, at least the hourly rate needs to be compensatory to the time workers are expected to be available to work (and thus, cannot work elsewhere — opportunity cost for the worker).
What an ignorant comment that adds nothing.
I do not need these clowns (Link, Denson, Parker) acting on my behalf. I am a grown man. If I got to an employer to do worker for a certain pay that is my business. Then the commissioners come along and act like I’m ignorant and that I am not able to get a job and accept or decline the pay. It drives me crazy when people have been working a job for years and then complain about pay—-you knew the wage / salary when you took the job!