Tear the Lubbock Coliseum and Auditorium Down

The choice in front of the city council is clear. Either invest A LOT of money into rehabbing the Coliseum and Auditorium, or give the properties back to Texas Tech.

In a recent Facebook post, Mayor Dan Pope said that the Coliseum/Auditorium lose about $700,000 a year for upkeep and need between $7-10 million dollars in work. The other problem is, if the city abandons the properties, they have to give it all back to Texas Tech. Still, it's time to cut and run.

So what do we have to lose? In the short term, the ABC Rodeo would have to find another home and the same for anything else they call a "dirt floor" event.

What do we gain? Not much. We just won't be hit with another tax bill for facilities that are rarely used.

The last things I saw at the Auditorium were Rodney Carrington and I think Steve Miller. I know quite a few of you saw Ghost there. Those things could have easily have played at the Lubbock Civic Center. In fact, I don't know why they didn't.

It's up to you to make your choice on this. I do not believe for one minute that the new Buddy Holly Center will book the same type of events that the current Auditorium does. It would just be too expensive. The question is, do you want to pay all that money for the less than a handful of events that both of these buildings currently host?

My hope is that Texas Tech will raze both buildings and add parking, even if it's premium parking, to help alleviate problems for both students and game day visitors.