City Commission discusses fate of Albany Civic Center 

ALBANY — Are the Albany Civic Center’s days numbered? That is a question that came up this week for the Albany City Commission

Commissioners also voted down a care home for young men during the Tuesday meeting.

Albany City Manager Terrell Jacobs brought up the topic as part of a discussion on the rental of a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) unit for the facility that opened in 1983. 

In addition to its age, the venue does not lend itself to hosting some events that go to other cities in the state, the city manager told The Albany Herald during an interview after the completion of the meeting.

“We’ve (done) a feasibility study on a new conference center,” Jacobs said. “That’s something we’re going to be working with the commission on.

“The question is the age of the Civic Center and the functionality of it for conventions and conferences.”

The Dougherty County Commission also has expressed interest in a conference center in the city.

In early 2006, the Chicago-based Johnson Consulting firm recommended a facility with between 50,000 and 75,000 square feet of contiguous event space, with an additional 15,000 square feet for meeting rooms and 10,000 square feet of prefunction space.

At the time the findings were presented in February, Flint River Entertainment Complex General Manager Victor Landry told county commissioners that the facility lacks modern features that attendees expect to find in a conference center.

The study included input from the city and county governments, residents, Albany State University, Albany Technical College, hoteliers, business and real estate professions, and other organizations and potential users.

The study identified the area within a 90-minute drive of Albany as being a potential host city for meetings and said that a multipurpose event center can serve as an anchor for ongoing downtown redevelopment. 

There are various options for financing construction of a new conference center, according to Jacobs, including revenue bonds.

“They (commissioners) have got to make decisions along with the county and how we are going to fund it,” he said. 

The Civic Center construction cost more than four decades ago came in at about $18 million.

Athens and Macon are among cities in the state that have built conference centers recently, Jacobs said, and Albany needs something similar to compete with those and other cities in the state for convention business.

On the issue of the proposed group-living home that could have housed up to six youngsters at 2005 Waddell Ave., commissioners voted unanimously to deny a special use request for the property that would have allowed for the group home.

The previous week, residents in that neighborhood showed up in numbers to urge commissioners to reject the proposal. Commissioners voted for the denial without comment.

Residents in the area raised objections based on the potential nuisance and crime issues that such a facility could bring.

Chamberlain Children co-owner Bryan Chamberlain told commissioners that the children in the home would be strictly monitored at all times.