The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday is scheduled to consider two issues related to the proposed Crown Event Center.
The board will consider approval of the “guiding principles’’ that were endorsed by the Crown Event Center Committee. It also will be asked to approve the Request for Qualifications for architectural services for the project.
The board meets at 9 a.m. in Room 118 of the Judge E. Maurice Braswell Cumberland County Courthouse.
The Crown Event Center Committee consists of Commissioners Jeannette Council, Jimmy Keefe and Glenn Adams. During a committee meeting on Aug. 16, members received an update on the center from MBP Carolinas, which serves as the “owner’s representative” for the project.
County Manager Amy Cannon earlier this year told commissioners that having an owners representative will make the process of building the center faster and more efficient.
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.
At the August meeting, MBP presented the “guiding principles,’’ which are intended to provide the foundation for the development of the Crown Event Center. In essence, they are project-specific values based on recommendations from a community engagement process.
The guiding principles were first presented to the committee in May and were further refined and revised based on a community engagement process held on July 15 and 16.
The Crown Event Center Committee approved the revised guiding principles at its Aug. 16 meeting. Also at the meeting, the committee directed MBP to prepare a Request for Qualifications for architectural services that the full board will consider.
The guiding principles approved by the committee call for several things, including:
The county staff recommends that the board approve the guiding principles and the RFQ for architectural services.
In other business, county Health Director Jennifer Green is scheduled to give the board a detailed briefing on monkeypox and the county's response to the disease. No-cost vaccinations and testing are available at the Department of Public Health.
Currently, there are nine cases of monkeypox in Cumberland County, according to a memo in the board’s agenda package.
Statewide, there are 332 cases of monkeypox with the following demographics:
The board also is scheduled to go into closed session for real property acquisition, attorney-client matters and personnel.
Jason Brady covers Cumberland County government for CityView TODAY. He can be reached at jbrady@cityviewnc.com.