Excerpts from the August 7th, 2013 Editorial in the Fort Wayne Sentinal:
“Evansville is in the middle of a downtown revitalization effort. Groundbreaking on a new $74 million hotel next to the convention center could be just months away. A city councilman says it is hoped the hotel will breathe new life into the center and “the businesses that are trying to sustain themselves in the downtown area†so the city is picking up $37.5 million of the tab.
Boy, that sounds awfully familiar, doesn’t it? What other city do we know that is hoping to find the right answer to downtown turnaround?”
“Will the Evansville hotel be a magic bullet for its downtown? We simply can’t know that. Sometimes something works, like the wonderful Circle Center Mall and surrounding businesses in downtown Indianapolis. A similar project at the old Union Station was an initial success but ultimately flopped.
And how many studies did we do of downtown Fort Wayne that recommended a “right†answer? How many false starts did we have?”
“It’s doubtful that Evansville will find its answer with a new hotel, but until leaders there understand that, they’ll be looking in the wrong places. Studies can’t really get anything done. The best they can do is pave the way for people with good ideas willing to take risks. The best the rest of us can do is encourage those people and try to recognize the worthiness of a good idea when we see one.”
Cut and paste to your browser read full story:
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130807/EDITORIAL/130809772/0/SEARCH
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golfer49 (Fort Wayne Commenter on the Fort Wayne Aricle quoted above)
August 7 2013 11:05 am
The editorial dept at the NS is old and stagnant, they would be quite happy to be living in the old fort. They don,t seem to understand this is not 1950, which by the way was around the time the east west over the city highway was rejected which kept Ft Wayne from becoming another Indy. Please name anyone who would want to invest in a downtown project when any other city would be willing to partner, right or wrong that’s the way it is. With the success of every project downtown project the NS is still in denial living the 50,s. A moderate size Casino on the river is a no brainer with the success the Convention Center has generated. We can pass out Tax Incentives to our city councilmen who fails to live up to his part of the bargain, not a peep, but let the administration try to keep the city moving forward and the old farts at the NS want to throw water on it. By the way LEO it was this admin who took the City Utilities deal and got it done. To the NS, its not your world now, you have had your time, get out of the way the people who are going to live 20 more years decide there own fate.
Wow Wayne. This sounds like the community organizer, “we won”, you lost… Get out of our way mentality.
Taken down because post was off message and unfounded.
The donation was handled properly and according to the state election laws. The check in question was deposited in the Vanderburgh County Republican Party’s account after the the Election. I would be happy to meet with you and discuss the matter with you when you identify yourself and Joe Wallace verifies you are who you say you are.
copied from the comment section of the News Sentinel. Good work there mr. chairman. Find a comment from a boot licker in Ft. Wayne and own it. Its almost like you dug it out of a Ft. Wayne garbage can.
Yoda–I do not understand what you are implying. I clearly indicate where the comments came from.
“golfer49 (Fort Wayne Commenter on the Fort Wayne Aricle quoted above)”
The opinion of an anonymous commenter in a newspaper is the best response you have to this article? You cannot offer any research about how/why the convention hotel will succeed, why $37.5M incentive is justified, or how the job creation claims by Mayor W. are not fictitious?
Hey BigPappa –
I only know what I read about Fort Wayne–I do not live there. A newspaper editorial is an opinion. The anonymous commenter appear to live there and had a different point of view on the very article that was quoted in the CCO. It appears to me to be very legitimate post on my part.
Fort Wayne is on track to do 50 conventions this year up from 35 in 2012. That is a good record.
Your being critical of a anonymous commenter blows my mind. What are are you “BigPappa”. You are one yourself. Look in the mirror big guy.
What is good? Is going from 35 to 50 like raising your batting average from 0.035 to 0.050 neither of which is worth a damn or is it like going from 0.290 to 0.315 which gets peoples attention. What is the convention target. It seems like I remember Evansville having over 50 conventions the last year the Exec was there and that we are still doing 35 or so.
Wayne,
Yes, I am anonymous, I am a nobody. I want someone in government to come forward with more than the opinion of 1 other nobody to convince me and others like me how in the world this project is a good deal and not just investing more good money after bad (The Center and The Ford Center). Sure, having a convention hotel will draw in a few more conventions, but will that be enough to justify the full investment that Evansville will have made in these 3 properties? If the city is losing hypothetically $1M per year now on the Center and Ford Center, will building a hotel erase these losses or will it just add on another $1M in additional losses? How does the Mayor’s claims about jobs at the hotel and construction jobs add up?
BigPappa—Do not call yourself a nobody because you are somebody who has right to express their opinon.
Wow. Do the boosters of this hotel project ever say anything about return on investment or cash flow or other financial measures? All we see and hear is sputtering about every other city is doing it so we have to do it too? Further, if we skeptics speak against this very dicey project were labeled regressives and against progress.
Comparing the sparse underbuilt roads of the 1950’s to the glut of convention centers and hotels of 2013 is like comparing apples to salmon fish. They’re not even close to being comparable.
Even people in the convention hotel business will tell you their is a hugh oversupply of both convention centers and adjacent hotels. We’d be better off just splitting up $38M among Vandy residents and giving them the money.
Yep, “monkey see monkey do” does not even work out well for the monkeys. If they talk about numbers including the damn lie about 250 jobs at the hotel they get slaughtered. Instead it is all touchy feely nonsense and a smart man like Wayne for some unknown reason sings along.
A special shout out to Joe Wallace. This is nothing short of amazing the kind of effort Joe is giving here. He’s got his offense running like a well oiled juggernaut. It reminds me of the Rams’ “Greatest Show on Turf” days. He is providing damning information around the clock and on the hour every hour.
Joe, along with Brad Linzy and those running the facebook opposition group, have provided thorough evidence after thorough evidence that this hotel plan is falling short on the projected jobs the city is claiming, isn’t any where close to a fair deal for the city, and is nowhere near compliant with what the Hunden Study is showing.
Joe, along with Brad and the fb group, are winners, they genuinely believe what they are fighting for, and they refuse to quit. That is 180 degrees from what we are seeing from the city and their supporters.
When I look back on my life someday, I hope I can say that I have surrounded myself with winners like this. Because the truth is, you can get through life half-azzed, but you CANNOT WIN by going through life half-azzed.
Despite the fact that the city refuses to admit it, the overwhelming truth is that they are getting out hustled, out played, and out willed by Joe and those opposed to cutting a $37.5 check for a project that has more questions than answers written all over it.
It won’t matter if this new hotel makes a go of it or not .If they decide to sell and have this 37.5M in their pocket.Evansville will still be 1/2 owner of the hotel,RIGHT…Hmmmmmm..(thats 6 M’s folks.
If the hotel fails Evansville is out $37.5 Million and has no ownership of the hotel. If the hotel succeeds Evansville is out $37.5 Million and has no ownership of the hotel. If it fails it will be sold to the highest bidder through a bankruptcy trustee as the Executive Inn was a couple of times. Evansville will not even be a creditor. This $37.5 Million is a grant that may be given to the developer as an incentive to build a hotel.
Plus, don’t forget the free land we are giving them to build it on. Look up how much that cost us to buy from the last failed hotel deal….plus we had to pay to take down the rest of the Executive. Funny how the property is nowhere in the mayors numbers of how much this will cost. the $217,000 for the Hunden Report is not in the cost analysis either. Nor is the total amount we will pay after paying the interest on the bonds.
It could always be a nasty apartment complex later. It was allowed in the past.
If only…the range of Colorado mountains, the allure of the Pacific ocean or even the warmth of the south Atlantic..this is the Midwest, what will it take to bring vitality to Evansville? Obviously we can’t compete with what USA can offer and if we’re honest with ourselves, anyone that graduated from HS in the 60-70 probably had a pretty nice life in Evansville and I’m one of them..Did I leave..yes, but came back to raise my family and stayed, did our children leave..yes..but 2 came back to raise their family here in Evansville..the question?? There still are good jobs and potential..We just need to get our priorties straight. I have watched too many employers leave over 50 years. Why?? Imagine that..But it is still reasonable housing and everyday expense compared to big city living. Doesn’t everyone live within some type of budget?? I should hope so to make this city work!
Actions have consequences. If you continually drive up taxes with your spending on projects that not only do not pay returns, but require annual subsidy, and you let your infrastructure fall into such a state of disrepair that inordinately expensive projects are needed just to bring it back up to minimum standards, then you will drive people from your city.
That is the situation Evansville finds itself in at the present time. How did we get here? Unquestionably, it was through poor leadership. I will go even further and say it was through the total abdication of responsibility by the 9 common council members to do what was best for local citizens.
It is better not to have served at all than to have served as the lackey of a group of wealthy elitists bent on preserving that wealth.
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Wow Pressanykey what a crappy outlook.I do not agree with you. Evansville is not perfect, but it is a good City that can be better. We can make it better.
By the way, what is your definition of “wealthy elitists” ?
Take a portion of an online article and quote it out of context? Great hack job, CCO. Read the entire editorial please.
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