Business again tries to wield culture club.

AuthorSpeizer, Irwin
PositionTar Heel Tattler - The local Arts & Science Council

People often complain that government doesn't listen. Forgive Charlotte residents if they extend the complaint to business. The city's big three downtown corporations--Bank of America, Wachovia and Duke Energy--didn't give up on a city-funded basketball arena downtown despite its resounding defeat in a referendum in 2001. And they show no signs of surrendering $190 million of arts projects that were part of the package voters rejected.

This time, the banks are pledging $8 million each and the power company at least $2 million toward a $52.5 million private fund drive. Charlotte art collector Andreas Bechtler would donate $20 million worth of art. The city's share: $88 million. Most of the rest would come from Mecklenburg County.

The local Arts & Science Council wants to pay for eight projects, including a museum for Bechtler's collection, a 1,200-seat theater, renovation of a children's science museum and expansion of the African-American Cultural Center. The company line is that this is a history-making opportunity to add long-desired cultural attractions. "The problem is that these historic opportunities always end up taking money out of the taxpayers' pockets," City Council member Don Lochman says.

The proposal promises to...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT