Mike Moser "I Say" Published Jan. 16, 2004

Is arena a field of dreams?

If you build it, they will come.

That line comes from a favorite movie, Field of Dreams, but I am sitting here wondering if an arena is the same thing as a baseball diamond carved out of an Iowa corn field.

In the movie the baseball field was built so Shoeless Joe Jackson and his friends could find fulfillment for their tormented souls. In Cumberland County, proponents of an arena say they will build it so the Crossville area, as a tourism venue, can also offer a convention-type facility that would widen the tourism base and add to local sales tax receipts.

For the record, I think an arena can be a wonderful asset to our community under the right conditions. I also fear it could be a money pit under the wrong conditions. So which movie will we in Cumberland County emulate, Field of Dreams or The Money Pit?

What I do know and understand is that building an arena won't make it a success. If the proper management is not in place, if the arena is not used and most importantly, not promoted, then they won't come.

Last week the arena issue sailed through the budget committee on its way to a vote of the full commission scheduled for Tuesday night (the meeting date was changed to accommodate Martin Luther King Day).

It is the rush to put this to a vote of the commission and the sudden urgency to pass the resolutions for funding and to build that make me uncomfortable. Concept of an arena is not new, it has been batted around for months and months. Serious talk and action have taken place quite recently.

Harry Sabine brought to mind several questions when he challenged the committee to rethink placing the arena at the Community Complex, known by some as the fairgrounds.

I am not sure what has gone into the site selection process. All I know at this point is that building an arena at the complex spares taxpayers the cost of purchasing land.
Sabine, speaking from the experience of hosting state chess tournaments at the complex, questioned building the arena at a site with no motels nearby.

There also appears to be no way that private business could build an inn on county-owned land. Sabine also suggested that a site with easy access to I-40 and to motel rooms and eating establishments would give the arena a better chance for success.

When school officials launched their campaign for a new high school, county officials placed a laundry list of requirements that needed to be met before they would grant their approval on a new school. On the surface it appears those same standards have not been applied to those promoting an arena.

Have core samples been taken all over the property being considered? How many? What were the results?

What is the exact proposal commissioners will be voting on? Will they be re-confirming a concept? Is there an actual site plan? From what I heard in the committee meeting last week, there seems to be a split as to just how large the arena will be.

County Mayor Brock Hill told commissioners he would have figures for two different capacity arenas at next week's meeting.

What will be the start up costs? What will be annual operating costs? Will costs differ if county officials opt for a larger arena? Once the arena is up and running, how much of a taxpayer subsidy will have to paid annually to keep the doors open? What will every day costs such as electricity, natural gas, water, grounds cleanup and maintenance be?

Has there been community input into the size and capacity of the proposed arena?

Have voters been polled and or asked for input? Should the arena be put to referendum as some commissioners said a new high school should? What is the architectural estimate?

And why are the arena and new library being piggy-backed onto the popularity and acceptance of building a new high school?

I am not keen on referendums replacing decisions that should be made by elected officials. Still, I wonder if a referendum on the arena would pass.

Again I say I am not against an arena. It can be a wonderful asset and a lucrative partner in our tourism trade. Do we have the right answers and are we ready for such an undertaking? And if we build it, will they come?

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Mike Moser is the editor of the Crossville Chronicle. His column is published periodically on Fridays.