One proposal would move the Georgia Music Hall of Fame from Macon temporarily to Perimeter Mall, which could give new meaning to the James Brown song "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag."
Another would shift the hall to downtown Woodstock, where it would be fronted by a walk of fame, with inductees' names engraved into giant marble piano keys, and the attraction would connect to an amphitheater via a lawn shaped like a Chet Atkins Gretsch guitar.
The Dunwoody and Woodstock plans to win the hall away from Macon were contained in bid records obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week. Athens and Dahlonega also entered bids, as did a Macon group intent on keeping the hall where it is.
Woodstock's proposal would tie into a recently approved amphitheater of more than 6,000 seats that would help generate revenue, according to the bid. The hall and amphitheater would adjoin City Park in the heart of Woodstock's reviving downtown. Across the street from the proposed hall site will be Towne Lake Arts Center, a 550-seat performing arts hall that's expected to open early in 2011.
The bid notes that Cherokee County's Woodstock is "synonymous with the most famous outdoor concert series ever" and says, "Macon is known as the cradle of Georgia’s music heritage. Athens is the birthplace of several breakthrough artists. In Woodstock, we have our name.”
In the proposal's introductory letter, Woodstock Mayor Donnie Henriques calls the potential museum relocation "the central piece of our economic development strategy of building upon the arts for the future of the area."
The museum would take over a 10,000-square-foot building that Woodstock would buy and then renovate, including the construction of a 4,000-square-foot addition on the front to serve as gallery and meeting space.
Woodstock's annual attendance projection of 45,000 initially is notably more conservative than Dunwoody's, which says it could attract 125,000 to a Perimeter Mall site in the first year. But the proposal suggests that Woodstock could make the hall financially sustainable by lowering overhead costs and generating revenue through special events and sponsorships.
The city estimates the cost of the museum at $2.4 million, on top the $2.5 million cost of the amphitheater. The city says it has $3.3 million available to finance both and would have to find the remaining $1.6 million.
Meanwhile, the proposal from the new nonprofit group Dunwoody Music Conservancy Inc., chaired by Dunwoody City Councilman Danny Ross, would house the hall Music Hall at Perimeter Mall for a few years while a permanent facility is built nearby, beside Spruill Gallery on Ashford Dunwoody Road.
Dunwoody's proposal suggests a mall location would increase attendance "exponentially," projecting a boost from 23,000 in 2009 (in Macon) to 125,000 in its first year at the mall, 260,000 in its second and nearly 325,000 by 2016. The mall attracts more than 18 million visitors annually, the proposal says.
The Dunwoody bid suggests that the hall, which would offer classes and other programs to metro-area students, could become one of Georgia's leading attractions.
The proposal does not specify a budget to build the proposed Center for Performing Arts of Dunwoody (a two-building complex that would include 10,000 square feet for the hall of fame). Funds would be raised from private sources, such as "Fortune 500 businesses, foundations with a focus on music, art and education and citizens," according to the proposal.
Both of the metro proposals say the exhibits at the Macon facility, opened by the state in 1996 in a $6.6 million building just off I-16, would be given an overdue updating using up-to-the-minute technology. Dunwoody's concept is described as "a combination of high tech and high touch, providing an unmatched, customized sight and sound experience for each visitor."
The Athens proposal promotes the college town's strong music roots as the hometown of artists including R.E.M., the B-52's and Danger Mouse, but does not include the required specifics about the museum space. Instead it proposes a "hub and spoke" business model in which Athens would serve as a "central hub" but the collection would be shared with nine other community partners, including Macon and Atlanta.
Dahlonega's bid calls for the construction of a 22,000-square-foot facility on North Georgia College and State University's campus, with an adjoining 1,000-seat performing arts center to be built in a second phase "as funding becomes available."
The Athens, Dahlonega, Dunwoody and Woodstock proposals were obtained by the AJC via a Georgia Open Records Act request to the Georgia Music Hall of Fame Authority. A citizens group in Macon that seeks to keep the hall there filed an injunction last week in Bibb County Superior Court to keep its Music Hall proposal from being released.
The state, trying to cut its budget during a period of decreased revenues, wants to discontinue its annual subsidies to the poorly attended Macon hall. The authority will make a location decision by April 15, though it has the right to reject all of the proposals if it does not determine there is a good match.
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