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GREENSBORO — Don’t look for bulldozers just yet at War Memorial Auditorium despite last week’s defeat of a $50 million bond issue to renovate the aging venue.

Greensboro voters rejected the auditorium renovation 57 to 43 percent.

Now Matt Brown, who oversees the Greensboro Coliseum complex that includes the auditorium, wants to pursue a revised renovation design with a more palatable price.

“We want to address a solution before we get to the point where you want to close the doors,” Brown said.

Built in 1959, the auditorium hosts nearly 140 events a year, including concerts by the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra and touring artists, Broadway shows, plays and lectures.

But for the second time, voters rejected plans for a major retrofit that would have replaced its lobby and theater to improve sight lines, acoustics and access for the disabled.

Brown said voters likely balked at the prospect of spending $50 million on what has been called a renovation — especially during the country’s current economic crisis.

“It’s hard to explain to people that it’s a replacement, in effect, of the current design, because that design has numerous faults that don’t meet current and modern needs,” Brown said.

The last time the issue came before voters in 2006, they were asked to spend $36 million.

Coliseum staff soon will consult with architects and engineers to explore other design options and their costs, Brown said.

“We are going to see if there is a design at a certain price point that would be acceptable to voters,” he said.

Brown said he expects the Greensboro City Council to deliberate the issue and say where to go from here.

“We’re just going to have to start at ground zero and try to figure out an alternative,” City Manager Mitchell Johnson said.

Mayor Yvonne Johnson said the city also could consider selling naming rights to War Memorial to a business as a way to raise money for a renovation.

In the meantime, the auditorium could require repair work. In recent years, the city has had to replace its aging infrastructure. And problems such as burst pipes have threatened to delay or cancel performances.

The city may end up spending a substantial amount of money just to keep it operational, Mitchell Johnson said.

“We don’t have a lot of money to just Band-Aid it,” said Councilman Zack Matheny, who sits on the War Memorial Commission. “You don’t want to tear down a memorial, but we may have to lock the doors.”

With its stage and 2,400 seats, War Memorial is the city’s largest venue for accommodating touring shows and symphonic orchestras, Brown said.

But it faces declining opportunities to attract major artists and, for the past five years, declining attendance. Brown attributes both to auditorium deficiencies.

Without technical improvements, he said, the venue can’t accommodate touring Broadway shows such as “The Color Purple” and 'Wicked.” They both will go to the soon-to-open $46.8 million, 2,800-seat Durham Performing Arts Center.

“Are citizens going to accept traveling there or to Charlotte, or do we not deserve to have that kind of facility in our community?” Brown said.

Contact Dawn DeCwikiel-Kane at 373-5204 or dawn.kane@news-record.com

Contact Amanda Lehmert at 373-7075 or amanda.lehmert@news-record.com