Wednesday, May 31, 2006

So-Bro Tug-o-War: The Public Spars with Convention Center Plans

It's good to live in an age when committees and private investors cannot simply run roughshod over public interest; or, at least if they are going to, they have to face the public and go through the motions of getting feedback. The first of the public charrettes on plans for a convention center was held at the downtown library last night, and the convention center committee had to face some criticism of their rah-rah mission to suck up a huge footprint south of Broadway that could otherwise be used for residential neighborhood development. I totally agree with the local developer who asked the committee last night to release the transcripts and minutes from the discussions that lead to selecting SoBro and rejecting all others as the best site for a revenue-depleting, cost-intensive convention center. Given that this is the Mayor's Task Force, I'm wondering if it might even be subject to open meeting laws.

The second public charrette will be held tonight at the Adventure Science Center, 800 Fort Negley Blvd. Sign-in starts at 6:30; meeting lasts until 8:30.

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