RICHMOND, Va. — The old Richmond Coliseum and the surrounding city-owned land have sparked debate for decades, with big plans that never seem to materialize.
Every few seasons, the conversation starts again. Should the old Richmond Coliseum be torn down? Should a new one be built? Where will the money come from?
The cycle is familiar.
NOTE: This commentary is from June 2017
"It's a $147 million investment, putting a brand new arena here where the public safety building is," WTVR CBS 6 News reporter Sandra Jones said in a 2011 report about plans at that time.
Nothing came of it.
The old Coliseum has been compared to a spaceship or a giant mushroom. It's been called the Richmond Mausoleum.
It's crumbly, leaky and has bad acoustics.
Big shows have been bypassing Richmond for the larger, newer John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville.
But Dominion Energy may now help lead the way, with naming rights cash and energy resources to wire up some regional cooperation.
It would be great if Dominion ponied up about a fifth of the $200 million building price for a new arena.
But is that what Richmond actually wants?
Some of the big-ticket shows that once filled arenas simply don't exist anymore.
The circus is gone.
And I'm wondering if arenas and coliseums like this one are becoming the new shopping malls — too closed in and too big for modern times.
There's also the question of trust.
The old 6th Street Marketplace.
The old Richmond Convention Center.
The city's track record gives people reason to be skeptical.
But the Richmond of those years was a different city.
Back then, people were fleeing in droves because of violent crime.
Now people are fleeing into the city. Richmond has earned national and international attention as a destination worth paying attention to.
Richmond deserves a world-class facility. The city can handle it and can build it.
The question is: what should it look like? And will everyone get on board to figure that out together?
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