When Greensboro residents, including many Guilford students, faculty and staff, go to the polls Nov. 4, we have some unusually important choices to make about investments in our community. Current economic conditions may foster short-term thinking about spending. But it is important to make decisions about local bonds in the context of our community’s long term economic vitality and quality of life.

Citizens will be voting on four bond issues, including one regarding $50 million in improvements to War Memorial Auditorium, which has served as the home of Guilford’s Bryan Series since 2005.

The purpose of a bond issue is to borrow money to finance major capital projects that are above and beyond the scope of the annual operating budget. A general obligation bond is long-term borrowing in which a city pledges its full faith and credit (taxing power) to repay the debt. The repayment is spread out over a number of years, so costs are shared by current and future taxpayers. This provides for more equitable funding by all taxpayers who will benefit from the bond projects.

In the past few years, Guilford has presented Bryan Series programs at the auditorium featuring Mikhail Gorbachev, Desmond Tutu, Bill Moyers, Toni Morrison, Bob Woodward and others. Khaled Hosseini, Christiane Amanpour, Salman Rushdie and Anna Quindlen are featured this year.

Holding the series in this 2,400-seat auditorium is of great benefit to the college. It gives two and half times more people access to the events than when the series was held on campus at Dana Auditorium and allows the college – which is situated on the western edge of the city – to showcase in the population center.

More than 16,000 people have paid to attend 11 programs at War Memorial and more than 7,000 Guilford students, faculty, staff and VIP guests have been given tickets to attend free of charge. Income generated by public ticket sales supports expenses and allows the college to sustain the quality of the series.

While other parts of the Coliseum Complex have been expanded, renovated and updated, only minimal changes have been made in the auditorium over the last 50 years.

The facility is in grave need of major refurbishment, including accommodations for handicapped persons, better acoustics and other amenities to keep the building competitive for future events. It is clearly time to fix it, and fix it right for the long term.

War Memorial is a performance and gathering space enjoyed by a broad mix of our diverse community. The variety of events includes school graduations, youth dance recitals, school concerts, student plays and local pageants. Professional performing arts events such as the symphony, Broadway shows, concerts, opera and comedy acts provide local access to superior cultural events and stimulate economic development and employment for our area.

$50 million is a large investment, but waiting to do what’s necessary will only add to the cost. Two years ago, voters turned down an opportunity to pass a $35 million bond to renovate the auditorium. And I encourage you to support the War Memorial Auditorium bond on Nov. 4.

To read more about the renovations visit www.gsoauditoriumbond.com.