AMARILLO, TEXAS -- The idea of a multi-purpose event center in downtown Amarillo has been thrown around for quite some time. Monday night city leaders came together to discuss that idea again.
City residents and officials alike are on both sides of the fence, with supporters and nay sayers.
"They don't care about the people. The bottom line, they don't care about the small people who they're going to affect, the tax payers who are going to have to pay for it," said Potter County Commissioner, Manny Perez.
Melissa Dailey with Downtown Amarillo Inc. disagrees, she say she can't find a negative impact for the community.
"If we do move forward on this facility, I don't think there'll be a down side. I think it'll be a huge community asset for generations to come and will bring in a significant amount of private investment into downtown."
She went on to say that Monday night's meeting was an opportunity for the public to sound off on the project, and admits that all the details haven't been ironed out yet. The results of the study still need to be looked at closely, and its going to involve a lot of community discussion, according to Dailey.
"It's a process that we need to go through so we're not coming to the public with all the answers. We do have a lot more work to do."
Amarillo resident, Eddie Ray Dunn feels that if the stadium is built as least people can see what their tax dollars are paying for.
"Well I'm excited and enthusiastic about a new baseball stadium downtown, at least people will see where their tax dollars are going."
Three different downtown locations have been proposed. The first, would put a ball park/multi-events center south of the Civic Center and City Hall. Then around the area would be business and living space, with a tiered parking garage across the street.
Plan two, would place the facility west of the Civic Center south of the train tracks. The hotel and parking garage remain basically the same as do the housing and warehouse area.
The third proposal, moves the center one block north, keeps the basic premise for the garage and hotel, while adding a few parks for those living and visiting downtown.
The topic will continue to be a heated one, and it's definitely one that won't be going away anytime soon.
If you are interested in looking at the presentation from Monday night's meeting Downtown Amarillo Inc. has posted it to its website, you can click here to view it, and leave any comments you might have.
