Whither a New Convention Center?

Blogging CM Emily Evans encourages Metro taxpayers to ask some very important questions about holes in the Mayor's plan to fund, to acquire land, to build the Music City Center in SoBro. She stipulates her own concerns about the concept:

While some have suggested that we can vote on land acquisition without committing ourselves to actually funding a new convention center, I tend to disagree. The land can only be used for a convention center and unless we are intentionally going to violate state law, we should probably be sure we can support - with all that entails - such a project. Doing otherwise is not good for our convention business, not good for our economy and not good for our taxpayers.

These are all important questions to which I would add: a) couldn't we have come up with a better design than a ripply big box and b) why couldn't the convention center itself have a broader use that would serve the neighborhood besides out-of-towners?