Wake Forest Univ. and Winston-Salem city officials on Friday agreed to "keep the Lawrence Joel name and the veterans' memorial designation on the coliseum façade and on its marquee as part of any sale" of Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum to the school, according to John Hinton of the WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL. The city in a release said that WFU may "pursue naming rights for the coliseum." City Manager Lee Garrity said that WFU can "rename the coliseum’s basketball court and the building, but Lawrence Joel’s name will remain in a prominent place on the building’s marquee." He added that WFU can "pursue naming rights immediately after if it buys the coliseum from the city." The new restrictions would "apply to the permanent sign at the coliseum’s main entrance, to any replacement marquee and to the coliseum, where Joel’s name is carved into the façade above the box office." The late Lawrence Joel was an African-American U.S. Army medic from Winston-Salem who fought in the Vietnam War and was "awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor." The city has proposed selling the coliseum for $8M, and "would include 33 acres, including the paved parking areas" (WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL, 5/11).
