Page 14 - Senior Link Magazine Summer 2020- Online Magazine

A Man of Vision:
ROB ALLISON
f you had a nickel for every
time Rob Allison said, “Well,
II’m just an old country boy
from West Texas but …”, you
could retire and live happily ever
after. In truth, Rob IS an old
country boy from West Texas, as
he was born in Pecos on June 3,
1949. However, he uses those
words more as a badge of honor
than as a tool for leverage against
anyone who might be foolish
enough to think this moniker
gives them any advantage in a
negotiation.
Although Rob Allison was not
born in Lubbock, few people bleed
Texas Tech red and black more
than he does. And few people, if
any, took longer to graduate from
his beloved alma mater than he,
a little over 35 years from start to
finish at the age of 53. That, in and
of itself, is a great story to be saved
for another time.
For over 15 years, I have had the
pleasure of knowing and working
closely with Rob – first on the
Overton Hotel and Conference
Center and most recently on the
Buddy Holly Hall of Performing
Arts and Sciences (Buddy Holly
14 Lubbock Senior Link
by Steve Moffett
Hall). Rob was Assistant City
Manager of Development Services
when we worked together on
the Overton Hotel and was the
single most important factor in the
project being completed, gifting
Lubbock with the iconic hotel that
it is today. Rob believed in this
hotel project and was committed to
it from its initial planning in 2003
to its opening in 2009.
After retiring from the City
in 2011, with over 22 years of
service, Rob began looking for
his next challenge. He found it
very quickly, working behind the
scenes with The CH Foundation
and the Helen Jones Foundation
in 2011 on the initial conceptual
planning, design and early
fundraising for Buddy Holly Hall.
When the Lubbock Entertainment
and Performing Arts Association
(LEPAA) was formed in March
2013 as the non-profit entity to
own Buddy Holly Hall, Rob
became their project consultant.
He continued in this capacity until
October 2015, when he became the
Executive Director of LEPAA.
From the very beginning, Rob
saw the potential for Buddy Holly
Hall and was well aware of the
impact it could have on the City
of Lubbock. Having worked at
the City for so long, he knew
that a performing arts center had
been identified years before as
a major catalyst for downtown
redevelopment in various City
of Lubbock development studies
and plans. He also knew that the
impact would be felt far beyond
the borders of downtown Lubbock
and that this would be much more
than a performing arts center.
When the initial feasibility
study came back positive for
possible users, but also showed
that Buddy Holly Hall would
likely lose money on operations
(as many performing arts
centers do, requiring substantial
endowments), Rob began meeting
with potential local tenants who
could use the building and pay
for the spaces they would occupy