This week the Charlotte City Council is considering a proposal from the Carolina Panthers to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade Bank of America Stadium. Meanwhile, tens of millions of dollars is being spent upgrading the Charlotte Spectrum Center where the Charlotte Hornets play.
In 2004, we published "The Charlotte Arena and Uptown Development" by Barry Silberman, then Executive Vice President of the Charlotte Bobcats. After a heated public referendum and contentious politics and civic activism, the Charlotte Arena, now the Spectrum Center, was under construction. Silberman wrote, "The arena is poised to be a magnet for all types of exciting residential, retail and dining concepts. What makes an area magical? What karma must exist in order to create a great, world-class location that people want to visit?" Twenty years later, has our karma been good?
In 2011, we published a conversation between Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx and Alex Gregor, our City Life editor at the time. The interview was part of a series of conversations we had with leading citizens and office-holders. You don't want to miss Mayor Foxx's thoughts on key issues facing the city ("I think the challenge…right now is depicting the exact character of our city. This city truly believes nothing is impossible."),how Charlotte could be a laboratory for innovation, and what he learned from Wynton Marsalis.
We add a 2015 review of the Charlotte Symphony playing Led Zeppelin by Jordan Lawrence ("counterpoint guitar solos with upper-register string swells, chances to recast multi-tracked studio melody as layered orchestral sprawl"), a powerful excerpt from Pat MacEnulty's novel Picara based on actual events in the deep south, and an artist gallery by Chris Watts. You'll also see links to two of our PDF magazines from previous years with lead columns from Gloria Pace King and Dan Thilo.
To right action,
Mark Peres
Charlotte Viewpoint Founder
The Charlotte Center Founder & Executive Director
