Editor, Commonwealth:
I would like to suggest an idea in the ongoing discussion of bringing increased revenue to the Greenwood area.
For the last several years, I have sought to bring quality Christian concerts and entertainers to our city to be held either at our church or at the Leflore County Civic Center. We have a very usable facility out there for such events, but the sound and lighting are far from adequate.
Everyone in the administration there has gone out of his way to accommodate our events. Though we paid to rent the facility along with paying a commission for product sold on the premises, we still cleared a small profit that enabled us to set another event. The mayor, the police and the sheriff’s departments have exceeded our needs with each and every event.
A couple of years ago, more than 2,300 people attended the Newsboys in concert in the civic center. The next year, more than 1,400 attended the Casting Crowns concert. Most recently, we brought Amy Grant and friends to Greenwood as well. It was reported that many of the restaurants and some hotels benefitted greatly from these concerts.
In all of those experiences, the contracts for these groups required us to spend between $6,000 and $7,000 to rent sound and lighting from a Jackson firm. When you sign a contract to guarantee around $20,000 to $25,000 to bring such a group to a facility but begin $7,000 in the hole, it becomes a rather daunting task. Most of these popular groups that people travel to Jackson or Memphis to hear require a minimum seating capacity of 1,000 to 1,500 seats. I’m currently in negotiations with another artist for the summer, but once again, minimal requirements for sound and lighting present a challenge.
Would it be possible for the city and county to find funding to upgrade our building as a part of our ongoing effort to bless our community with quality family-oriented Christian concerts? I’m willing to prayerfully risk putting my name and our church on the line to continue these on at least an annual basis. I’m certain other events at the civic center would obviously benefit from these upgrades as well.
Dr. Jim Phillips
Senior Pastor
North Greenwood Baptist Church
