Such a mess. Let's say a new arena is exactly what Charlotte needs. Let's say it's also a good idea to haul the Mint uptown, renovate the Carolina Theatre, spend millions improving Theatre Charlotte, the Afro-American Cultural Center and Discovery Place. Art makes order out of chaos, not chaos out of order. Art is not a team sport.
Art relies on independence of vision.
Don't forget that in puritan New England, bundling was the cold-weather sport of young men in search of wives. If it was too cold to sit in the parlor, an eligible daughter allowed the suitor to hop in her bed, as long as her father positioned a good, sturdy bundling board between the two. When the City Council proposed making bedfellows of art and basketball, the ASC should have insisted on a board to keep its reputation pure. Cheer with us, or get out Charlotte's always been full of bedfellows. Banks, media, developers, department stores formed a brawny cheering squad to get things done.