Downtown stadium plans... VER 2

The_Dude · Post by **The_Dude** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 9:37 am

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgaz ... 289243.htm

Looks like it could be nice but I still think it's a waste of money.

Post by **cwallace** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 9:45 am

Big waste of money...

Chris

Silencio · Post by **Silencio** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 9:53 am

I can't recall a civic project in my lifetime that seemed more inevitable or received greater public resistance.

You should really be asking the city to explain who is making the money on this.

Remember what was supposed to happen on the southwest corner of Wayne & Harrison in the 1980s? Lots of people made a good amount of money just planning the gorgeous Victorian-faire, glass-enclosed structure. It was going to cover the entire block, turn the back alleys into a groovy urban mall, stand as the cornerstone of a downtown revitalization, and cost something like 4 million. A few months later, it was going to cover half the block and cost 8 million. I remember telling a friend at the time that soon it would cost 13 million to call the whole thing off.

And what eventually happened? A hideously ugly "mixed use" building where sandwich shops went out of business and condos went begging.

I encourage everyone to call the mayor's office and demand to know what the hell is really going on with this project. If the Grand Wayne is going to succeed (and not do what Flint, Michigan's hopeless little convention center did), they need entertainment downtown... bars, movies, flash restaurants. Did you know that you can't even buy a 2-pack of aspirin out of a machine in the Grand Wayne, and that there is no place within walking distance where you can?

There's a hell of lot more that needs to happen in Fort Wayne before a downtown ballpark is going to do any good.

bassjones · Post by **bassjones** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 10:53 am

Waste of my money. Between this and the school "revitalization" project, which could cost as much as $990 Million, I may soon move out to the County - and somewhere where far enough away that the greedy bastards can't annex it.

WBOB · Post by **WBOB** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 11:08 am

If figures. The city has already quietly buying out the properties
involved(though there's a couple of holdouts that might test
the imminent domain law).

It amazes me that our officials still haven't answered the
undying question of what is this going to be used for in
the months of October thru March. What revenue/traffic
is this going to generate during that time????

Places cart before horse!

fragile_funk · Post by **fragile_funk** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 11:39 am

It would make a whole lot more sense to have a place like the Coliseum downtown...where you could have a variety of different events to pull in people.

Krieves · Post by **Krieves** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 1:22 pm

Yep. Downtown Ballpark = Huge waste of $$$$$$

lbanks · Post by **lbanks** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 2:19 pm

Downtown Baseball Park= stupid idea
Downtown Wal-Mart= stupid idea... but, I need some bread and ice cream.

conley · Post by **conley** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 2:29 pm

I don't understand why you think it's a bad idea? Seriously, why is it a bad idea? I'm curious.

Krieves · Post by **Krieves** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 2:52 pm

IMHO, it'll cost a lot of tax dollars to subsidize it and it will sit empty most of the year. I agree with some of earlier comments that whole downtown area needs to be revitalized before a ballpark makes sense.

My guess is that the reason a few powerful people are pushing for it is that they own property downtown that stands to appreciate if a ballpark is built.

Sankofa · Post by **Sankofa** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 5:20 pm

Use the money for the schools, they're getting run down.

bassjones · Post by **bassjones** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 5:49 pm

Sankofa wrote:Use the money for the schools, they're getting run down.

They've already got a plan in place for that - actually, they have several different plans in place. At the cheapest, it's going to cost the property owners/property tax payers $200 Million and depending on which plan they go with it could be close to $1 Billion... Of course, none of that money will go to the one thing that will actually improve ISTEP scores - replacing moron parents with responsible ones. I hate that schools are almost solely funded by property tax revenues and Indiana doesn't allow the taxpayers to vote on major expenditures such as this one. There should be a vote in which property owners/taxpayers get to vote on which plan (if any) to accept. BTW, even though Aboite is annexed, it's only FWCS district taxpayers who will have to pay for this. There are a lot of homeowners just barely making it now and they're going to tack on close to $400 a year extra, depending on which play they choose. Anyway, back on topic....

I'm opposed to the ballpark because I don't think it is going to generate the greatest benefit to the city of all the plans presented. I've heard suggestions of a multi-use facility similar to Spiece. That makes sense since it would get year around use. A much nicer than McMillen ice rink/multi ice rink with seating/3 or 4 dedicated rinks makes a lot of sense since Hockey's such a big sport around here and they could host hockey tournaments similar to the basketball tournaments Spiece hosts. Being downtown would bring those visitors downtown which would generate the kind of traffic and revenue to put in upscale restaurants, hotels, entertainment facilities, etc... there as well.

Shaggydoo · Post by **Shaggydoo** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 6:08 pm

A very stupid idea for sure and I don't think that it will happen. But in the meantime a bunch of high profile people are going to make gobs of money off of the planning phase.

Remember.......the Wizards were bought out by a group from Atlanta, GA (< 1 yr ago). My guess is that in order to keep the team here the city will have to give them a better home to play in. And since the majority of the people don't want that ballpark (or so it seems), then it will end up being the people's fault that we lose the ball club. That's my conspiricy theory.

I've been to one game in the few years that I've lived here because the tickets were free. I would rather travel for 3 hours to see a "real" game, or go to Florida for Spring Training! See ya later Wizards...........

Al Quandt · Post by **Al Quandt** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 6:40 pm

beautiful looking facility, awesome view of downtown, dumb idea.

I agree with all of the above mentioned. I especially agree with more clubs and entertainment downtown, along with more public transportation for those places.

More fun things to do.
More transportation so that you dont go to jail after having fun.

I heard a rumor of a river walk with shops and clubs on it while I was visiting home it this true?

bwohlgemuth · Post by **bwohlgemuth** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 11:06 pm

Why Downtown Fort Wayne will NEVER develop past its current state...

NO
DOWNTOWN
EXPRESSWAY

Once that happens, then you can look at developing real estate. People avoid downtown because traffic would suck @$$.....

FortWayneMusic.com

Downtown stadium plans... VER 2

CITY PLANNING :: Downtown stadium plans... VER 2