Sports
Macon Mayor Is Pushing For A New Arena
The present building in Macon is 58 years old and outdated
Macon Officials Explore New Arena Proposal
The mayor of Macon, Georgia has signaled support for building a new arena in a city of roughly 157,000 residents. Macon ranks as the fourth-largest city in the state, and local leadership believes updated sports and entertainment infrastructure is necessary to remain competitive.
The push centers on replacing the Macon Coliseum, a 58-year-old facility that currently houses the Macon Mayhem, a minor-league hockey team in the Southern Professional Hockey League. The SPHL operates independently, with no direct affiliation to the National Hockey League. While the Coliseum has served the city for decades, officials describe the building as outdated and no longer meeting modern event standards.
Early Planning, No Price Tag Yet
Mayor Lester Miller and the Bibb County Commission have hired Barton Malow Builders to begin early-stage planning for a potential new arena. The project remains in its exploratory phase.
“So basically over the next several months we’ll get some architectural drawings,” Miller said. “We’ll get some rough figures sometime around January, and by the springtime we’ll have the final numbers to bring before commission to vote on.”
At this stage, there is no official cost estimate, no financing plan, and no proposed site publicly identified. What exists is a concept and a belief that a new building could elevate Macon’s standing in Georgia’s event marketplace.
Staying Competitive in a Crowded Market
Mayor Miller framed the proposal as a necessity rather than a luxury. He pointed to other Georgia cities that have recently invested in new arenas.
“We have to stay ahead of the game,” Miller said. “By game, I mean the competition amongst all the other places in Georgia that people have an opportunity to go to. Savannah has a new arena, Augusta has one, Athens has one. Macon-Bibb County has to stay competitive.”
The argument follows a familiar pattern. Cities fear being bypassed for concerts, conventions, and touring events if their facilities fall behind. A new arena, proponents argue, keeps Macon on the list when promoters plan regional stops.
Tourism Promises and Economic Claims
Miller has emphasized tourism as a primary benefit. He argues that visitors drawn to events would spend money locally, generating revenue that could support public services.
According to the mayor, those dollars would “directly benefit citizens through services, better schools, jobs, and lower taxes.”
That claim raises questions. While arenas can generate activity, minor-league sports historically do not create large numbers of high-paying jobs. Most arena employment consists of part-time, per-event work with limited wages and no long-term security.
The Reality of Minor-League Economics
The Macon Mayhem draw a loyal local audience, but they are not a regional tourism driver. Few fans travel significant distances to attend SPHL games. That reality complicates projections built on visitor spending.
Construction jobs would be temporary. Arena staffing would largely be per diem. The long-term economic return remains uncertain, particularly without a major-league tenant or guaranteed slate of high-profile events.
A Notion, Not a Decision
For now, the Macon arena proposal remains an idea rather than a commitment. No cost, no funding source, and no public vote.
What exists is a familiar civic debate. Build to compete, or risk falling behind. Whether taxpayers will ultimately be asked to fund that ambition remains the unanswered question.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
It was retrieved the next day.
There have been 59 Vince Lombardi trophies handed out, although it was not until 1970 that the “World Championship Game Trophy” was renamed the Lombardi Trophy following the death of the Green Bay Packers and Washington coach Vince Lombardi. The Lombardi Trophy will never be confused with hockey’s Stanley Cup when it comes to tall tales and legendary stories. But there is one tale that rivals that of some of the Stanley Cup stories.
The “World Championship Game Trophy” that was given to the New York Jets following the team’s Super Bowl III victory against the Baltimore Colts on January 12th, 1969 comes straight out of the Stanley Cup strange-but-true stories.
The Jets organization got the trophy in a postgame ceremony, but in all the excitement of winning, someone forgot to take the trophy back to New York. It sat in one of the locker rooms in the bowels of the Orange Bowl in Miami.
It was a story that could have been the equal of some of Stanley’s best tales, but the NFL doesn’t push the past history of the trophy.
“I am sure it was John Free’s (responsibility),” laughed one-time Jets trainer Jeff Snedeker years later in discussing who was supposed to be in charge of making sure the trophy accompanied the team on the trip back to New York. Free’s main job was making sure Jets quarterback Joe Namath got out of stadiums safely. No one was told to take the trophy and everyone seemed to follow orders. “He never did anything right.”
Neither Snedeker nor Free even knew the trophy was gone, but someone discovered the trophy was missing when the team got home.
“I remember the guy that either went to get it or brought it with him, his name was Tiger Ferraro,” said Snedeker. “I remember it was Tiger that brought it. I don’t remember if they sent him back or he was still there or they went back to the Orange Bowl.
“They did forget the trophy.”
Ferraro was sent back to Miami and retrieved the trophy, which was sitting all alone in the Orange Bowl. No one even bothered to move it after cleaning the locker room. Not even Stanley was left behind by a team in a dressing room and stayed overnight in a cold, damp locker room.
“Nobody expected us to win, so I guess they were not prepared to get the trophy,” said Snedeker, who as trainer might have been responsible for making sure everything was taken out of the room in Miami. “In the euphoria that followed the trophy, it was probably the least of anybody’s concern. Just that we got it, we didn’t have it physically was probably immaterial.”
The trophy eventually caught up with the Jets and was present during a New York City Hall celebration on January 11th, 1969.
An excerpt from the ebook: America’s Passion: How a Coal Miner’s Game Became the NFL in the 20th Century
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
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