City councilmen voted unanimously Tuesday to advertise for bids to begin construction of the second phase of the Sen. Terry Brown Amphitheater.
The $3.2 million first phase was completed in August 2017, almost two years after the groundbreaking on the west bank of the Tombigbee River at the Columbus Riverwalk. Phase 2 will include seating, gating, concession stands and restrooms, but the portion the council agreed to advertise was fencing and a front wall, funded by $500,000 in 2019 bond money from the Legislature.
“The good news is, it’s already been designed, so what we did was we backed up and looked at the lowest-hanging fruit, if you will, to provide safety and security in that facility,” City Engineer Kevin Stafford said.
The entire phase will cost $2.5 million, and the city does not yet have a plan to fund the rest, Mayor Robert Smith told The Dispatch.
The end of the calendar year is not a good time to take bids, so the city should advertise now but not take bids until January, Stafford said.
The amphitheater, named after the late District 17 state senator, included a 42-by-56-foot stage in phase 1.
The original plans called for the state to fund the entire project through the Legislature’s annual bond program. The project received $2.1 million in 2015 and another $1.1 million in 2016, but the Legislature did not approve funding for the project in its 2017 or 2018 sessions.
Councilman Joseph Mickens, of Ward 2, asked Stafford if there is a time frame for completion, and Stafford said the facility needs seating, restrooms and concessions before it can be open to the public for paid events.
“It’s an open-air grass amphitheater right now, so it won’t bring in any more revenue as it stands today,” Stafford said.
The council also approved a contract with C Spire to bring gigabit internet, live streaming television service and home telephone service to Columbus residents at no cost to the city. The agreement lasts 10 years and allows for a possible 10-year renewal, Chief Operating Officer David Armstrong said.
Lowndes County approved a 25-year franchise agreement with C Spire in August. In return, the county will receive 5 percent of customer revenue from C Spire’s television service. Armstrong said C Spire made a similar initial proposal to the city, but the city hired a negotiator that added more revenue to the contract, eliminated automatic renewals and “didn’t leave anything on the table.”
The city will receive a percentage of customer revenue, Armstrong said, though he did not have an estimated dollar amount.
The city already has a 15-year cable franchise lease with Sparklight, formerly Cable One, that began in May 2014. The agreement produced $186,000 in city revenue the first year but had dropped to $132,000 by the fourth year, Armstrong said.
“(The C Spire contract) is good for two reasons: it gives us more income and it gives the citizens of Columbus another option,” he said.
Conflict disclosure: Managing Editor Zack Plair took part in editing this article. He is currently involved in legal proceedings with the city of Columbus.
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