Crossville City Council considering the sell of the Snodgrass building and the Amphitheater back to Cumberland County.
The county sold both to the city in 2013. City Manager Valerie Hale said the county has several proposed uses for the facilities.
“We have given it much consideration and the amphitheater is a good venue but it’s not programed very much because it is weather-related,” Hale said. “So we feel like we can serve anyone at the Palace rather than using the amphitheater. The county is interested in programming it more than what we do.”
Hale said the city is considering asking $51,900, the same amount the city paid 12 years ago. Mayor RJ Crawford said selling the building is simply just a swap of ownership as the county has helped the city with the upkeep of the buildings.
“You may know this or not but when we were looking last year with some stuff with DCI (Downtown Crossville Incorporated) found out that the county was already mowing, and they were changing out the trash, and they cleaned up around the restrooms,” Crawford said.
Hale said the amphitheater has generated revenue even though it has been underused.
“We have seen some revenue from it,” Hale said. “Very little though. Less than $1,000 probably just from a few church events.”
Hale said the reasons the county wants the amphitheater is unknown. Crawford said County Mayor Allen Foster has mentioned the amphitheater could be used for overflow when the county has public demonstrations. Hale said the city will make sure that planned DCI events will still take place if the city does sell both buildings.
The city council will further discuss the proposal to sell the buildings back to the county at the next city council meeting which will take place April 8, at 6pm.
