The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners on Monday will hold a special meeting to possibly disclose the proposed site for the Crown Event Center and to consider contracting with an architect to design the center.
The meeting starts at 1 p.m. in Room 564 on the fifth floor of the Judge E. Maurice Braswell Cumberland County Courthouse.
Repeated efforts to contact board Chairman Glenn Adams to ask whether the board will disclose a proposed site were not successful. County staff also has remained tight-lipped regarding the selection of property for the multi-purpose facility.
The proposed facility will replace the aging theater and arena at the Crown Coliseum Complex on U.S. 301 Business. The two facilities are scheduled to close in 2025.
Site selection for the Crown Event Center is listed as one of the reasons for the special meeting.
Some community leaders have suggested the center should be built in the downtown area.
The board in the past has held several closed sessions to discuss acquiring property. In some of those sessions, members of MBP Carolinas were allowed in the room. MBP Carolinas is the county’s consulting firm and owner’s representative for the Crown Event Center.
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The Timmons Group – a Richmond, Virginia-based engineering firm – in May came onboard to help MBP with site review and selection. The site review includes a geographic area analysis, which includes a market and financial feasibility study. It also will analyze the potential benefits and drawbacks of each site being considered.
The board also is scheduled to consider allowing county staff to begin contract negotiations with Ewing Cole for design services and construction management for the center. Ewing Cole was selected by staff from among five architectural design firms and recommended to the board for approval.
Also on the agenda is the selection of a new county manager. County Manager Amy Cannon retires in December. The board on Oct. 17 appointed Renee Paschal as interim county manager to become effective on Dec. 1. Paschal previously served as county manager in Chatham County, where she worked for 25 years.
Commissioner-elect Marshall Faircloth, who will take the oath of office on Dec. 5, previously stated that he expected to be involved in the county manager selection process. He listed hiring a new manager as one of his top priorities when he assumes one of two at-large seats on the board.
The board also is expected to go into closed session to discuss an “attorney-client matter,” according to a public notice from the clerk to the board.
The meeting will be streamed live on Spectrum Channel 5, and on the county’s website, and on the CCNCTV app on Roku, Apple TV, and on Fire TV, according to the county’s public information office.
Jason Brady covers Cumberland County government for CityView. He can be reached at jbrady@cityviewnc.com.
