Was Ditching The Coliseum Just A Plan To Boost The Civic Center?

Man, the timing on this was really coincidental. The fate of the Coliseum/Auditorium was put before voters (face it, it's gone) and just a bit later we get talk about updating the Civic Center.

So its this a chicken before the egg type situation? Did we boot the old venues to increase the chances of spending money on the new ones, or did someone say, well, maybe we should start taking care of the other stuff we have? I don't know the real answer, all I can say is, that the timing sure is stinky.

As luck would have it, I've been to the Civic Center twice in the past month or so. I did up the Lion's Pancake Breakfast and Lubbock Comic-Con. The thing I can say is that the place is in really good shape. It may look a little dated, but the maintenance certainly looks like the place is kept clean and well-repaired.

Now, kudos to the maintenance staff aside, part of the reason it's in such great shape is, it doesn't get used that much. There just isn't that much demand for a big conference center type thing in Lubbock. Those things are NOT going to come here Lubbock. It's not going to happen, not now, not ever.  We just don't have enough amenities to offer as a city for us to attract those events. They do not care about how nice you're meeting rooms are, they care about what they can do before and after their events.

I AM a businessman. My business has tons of events. Whether I attend them or not depends on where they are. Heck, even with some of the big cities, one visit is enough to take in most of their culture. Lubbock doesn't have a lot of that to take in to start with.

I've long preached that Lubbock needs an identity.  There is nothing for a businessman to do here after 6 p.m. You can build or rebuild meeting centers all day and you're not going to change that.  Do you want to know the real truth? Allow strip clubs in the city limits and you'll immediately see more business come through here.  Just THAT would mean more than a refurbished Civic Center.