County Resolves to Financially Support the Hotel Project

8

Marsha Abell

Today the Vanderburgh County Commissioners adopted a resolution and approved financial support for the downtown hotel project. Commissioner Marsha Abell last week put Evansville on notice that The Centre may have to be shuttered due to continued operating losses unless a hotel is built.

The groups that have been vocally opposing the hotel are calling for removing the inn keeper tax from the hotel subsidy package. Aside from the $16.5 Million investment package pondered by the City, the County has committed to deliver $1.5 Million in February and the CVB has committed to $2.0 Million but has not announced a timeframe.

It is believed that the $3.5 Million from the County and the CVB will go toward improvements to the Centre and reconnecting the so-called bridge to nowhere to the Ford Center and the proposed parking garage.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

8 COMMENTS

  1. First of all, I think Marsha owes the Veterans Organizations & Lowes an apology for bringing the Coliseum into this mess, and I think she owes the Evansville Bar Association among many others an apology over bringing the Old Courthouse into this mess.

    All of the organizations above have donated time and money to keeping up their respective facilities. Having to read in the paper that they could be closed if the previous terrible hotel deal was not passed is disrespectful in my opinion.

    As for the financing, the Kunkel plan was $3.5 Innkeepers & $4.5 Downtown TIF. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that figure was a half truth that didn’t include the skywalk and Centre renovation (what exactly is being renovated?). However, the IT should at least go back to the $3.5 million figure.

    • Rails&RobertsStadium: Marsha was not disrespectful to the Veterans Organizations in any manner whatsoever.

      You appear to but the Evansville Bar Association and the Veterans Organizations on the same level. Now that is being disrespectful to the Veterans Organizations.

      • Yea, clearly she didn’t just drag their coliseum into a hotel spat by suggesting that it could be boarded up. This comes after Lowes just volunteered numerous hours of community service in restoring it. It isn’t just a coliseum, it is the Soldiers & Sailors Coliseum. Politics has no place on these grounds despite this now being the 4th attempt to get rid of it.

        And yes, I do give Mr. Mark Owen credit for going into the building and bringing it to their attention many years ago that the roof was on its last leg and needed to be replaced. He literally saved them an entire building because if that roof would have collapsed it would have done an unthinkable amount of damage to that entire structure.

        How in the world are you claiming I’m putting the Bar Assoc and the Veterans on the same level? By suggesting that Marsha owes both of them an apology translates to the same level with you? You really don’t think before you take action sometimes do you?

        And speaking of the Old Courthouse, I drove by there today and “Talk To Tucker” signs were on two corners of it. Those look horrendous, especially after the homeless Veterans just helped restore the Gresham Memorial.

      • Have to agree with Wayne that there was no disrespect to the Veterans Organizations. Rails&Roberts usually has thought provoking posts, but this one was a stretch too far.

    • Chill out. Marsha is a wild one but believe me she didn’t do this to piss off veteran’s and the BAR. Besides, pissing off the BAR never gets anyone, anywhere.

  2. Marsha did an excellent job at the meeting last evening. Tom Shelter was also very good. I applaud her to point out other expenditures and budget constraints. Fiscal responsibility is not always popular among certain special interest groups, ask the Super 7 who voted to postpone last evening. Dr. Adams probably thought he was beamed back to the Right to Work protests at the Statehouse.

  4. I wonder if the CENTRE was debt free for even a single day? This seems to have happened fairly fast, I do not remember seeing the legal notice of the refinancing. The first I heard about it was from the Barnes & Thornburg attorney at the city council meeting.

    Can anyone post the particulars on the refi?

    ___

Comments are closed.