I certainly will NOT support a downtown performing arts center if it's based on Mr. Brown's current proposal. So, Mr. Faw may get his wish.

There is a very large and publicly transparent committee to determine the viability of a downtown venue and this group hasn't even gotten to the feasibility stage. So Mr. Brown's ham-handed, tax-funded architectural plan is premature, to say the least, based on the meetings that I've attended.

On the the other hand, based on listening to several professionals on the GPAC committee with experience in staging, booking and community support for arts centers, I'm optimistic that a CORRECTLY designed arts center downtown, in proximity to three other successful theaters (Carolina, Triad Stage, Broach) can be an economic boon.

In the paradigm of new urbanism, walkability is a component of such projects, because counter to Mr. Faw's point, the City needs people walking from dispersed parking to the theater. Otherwise, you might as well place it on the Lee St. wasteland.

But in reading this article, I don't see how a new downtown performing arts center built to current standards to attract touring theater and musical acts that we currently lose to other cities will do anything to diminish the role of stage hands.