CORNELIA, Ga. — The name of Cornelia’s future amphitheater is still undecided after the city ended a non-binding agreement that would have given naming rights to Kinetic by Windstream.
During the city commission’s June 2 meeting, commissioners voted to terminate a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Kinetic following the company’s sale to Uniti. The MOU was based on Kinetic’s previous offer to pay the city $30,000 per year for 5 years and to provide free Wi-Fi at the city’s new park in exchange for naming rights.
Mayor John Borrow explained the conditions that existed when the MOU was drafted no longer exist. Uniti rescinded the cash payment offer but did offer free Wi-Fi at Donald Anderson Park in exchange for naming rights.
Commissioners dismissed that proposal outright.
“In my humble opinion, people are on their cell phone anyway, and it’s connected through either AT&T or Verizon or whatever, and having free Wi-Fi in a park probably isn’t as valuable as they think it is,” said Borrow.
Commissioners voted unanimously to terminate the MOU and remove Kinetic’s name from all the signs at Donald Anderson Park.
Inaugural event
The action comes as the Cornelia continues developing the downtown park, which recently hosted the Cornelia Music Festival and attracted an estimated 3,000 attendees.
City Manager Donald Anderson reported that country music artist Mark Wills, who headlined the festival, was impressed with the venue and has already expressed interest in returning once the amphitheater is completed.
Mayor Borrow said he was pleased – and surprised – at how well everything went during the park’s inaugural event.
“I would have imagined it would have taken five years for the amount of people that showed up and how well executed it was,” he said. “Thousands of people brought their lawn chairs [and were] very well behaved, and then towards the back of the park, there were kids throwing footballs and Frisbees and playing tag. It’s the kind of thing that you’re hoping would happen in your city, and in an urban park or a rural urban park. So it was a great job to everybody involved.”
The amphitheater remains one of the final major components planned for the park. With the Kinetic agreement now terminated, city leaders are expected to explore future opportunities for naming rights and sponsorships as construction moves forward.
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