8/12/2007 12:01:00 AM
Arena to get more parking
Funds OK’d for new deck

By Camie Young
Senior Reporter/Gwinnett Daily Post

LAWRENCEVILLE - Extra parking for the Arena at Gwinnett Center is on its way.

Commissioners gave final approval last week for the sale of $12 million in bonds to fund the planned three-story, 900-space deck. The bonds will be backed by hotel/motel taxes.

Additional funding of $6 million will come from the county's tourism fund and another $1 million from the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"We want to get it done as quickly as we can," Gwinnett Center Director Preston Williams said.

There is no upcoming performance that provides a deadline for the deck, but Williams said he wished he had more parking for the Justin Timberlake concert last week.

"They were parking across the street" for the sold-out performance, he said.

The deck, which will also include 5,000 square feet of meeting space, will bring the center's parking total to about 5,000 spaces, Williams said.

Construction could begin in late 2007 or early 2008 and take 12 months, Williams said.

Located on the 100-acre Gwinnett Center campus on Sugarloaf Parkway near Interstate 85, the four-year-old arena has received many honors, including a nomination by Billboard Magazine as venue of the year and a place as one of TicketMaster's top 10 venues for ticket sales in the Southeast.
For the bond sale, all three rating agencies - Fitch, Standard & Poor's and Moody's - reaffirmed their AAA ratings of Gwinnett County.

"The county's financial position is strong, as general government financial operations continue to benefit from strong, taxable property growth, prudent financial management and healthy reserve policies," Fitch reported.