Demolition is declaredAfter 5 years of trying to decide whether the Memorial Coliseum should stay or go, City Council finally decided they are going to tear it down. The City still didn't know what it was going to do with the lot but they did know that the Memorial Colisuem was no longer needed ever since the opening of the American Bank Center back in 2004. In early March the city hired A&R Demolition to get started on the demolition process. Once the community started to witness the deconstruction of the building despair set it because some felt that they failed in saving the building.
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Council's views |
City Council saw the lot where the Coliseum was sitting as an opportunity to improve the look of Corpus Christi's downtown area and a old building rotting away didn't help improve the look. The Council stated that the repairs were going to cost the city alot more than to just demolish it. The Council also felt as if they didn't have a need for the building even if they did restore it because now most of the events that take place in Corpus are held at the American Bank Center, Selena Auditorium, Concrete Street or Brewster Street. City Council saw the potential the area had and they could improve Corpus Christi's look but that meant that the Coliseum had to go.
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The city's dissapointment |
Most of the population from Corpus Christi didn't agree with council's decision, they wanted to keep the Coliseum because the building had history. The memorial Coliseum had no been used in years prior to the demolition so Council felt that it was just taking up space whereas the city felt as if they could've saved the building and restored it back to it's operable condition. When the demolition process began some of the community came out and took mementoes (which were bricks from the walls) so they have a piece of Corpus' History with them. Now the City is a little upset at Council because Council planed to improve the downtown area but today, 5 years after the Demolition was decided, the empty lot where the Coliseum used to lay is still just an empty lot.
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Tricia Reyna speaks on her feelings about the Demolition and what the city could have done differently.