Another Kickass logo design by Detroit
I caught wind of this a week ago when I enjoyed some tasty Euro beers at Monks (happy hour, $3.50 for a pint of ESB from Germany 🙂 with Steve and Sy. Steve suggested putting it on the ballot and I agreed. While I don’t think we need an events center NOW, I do think if the majority of voters support it, it needs to be downtown;
“We know for a fact that economic development will be spurred in the downtown area if the events center is here, but if it’s at the arena, we won’t see any development at all.Ă‚Â Ă‚Â We haven’t for 50 years,” Hildebrand said.
There is one thing working against them though, most people (voters) in SF are not progressive or visionary. Putting it DT would be both of those things and that scares the hell out of residents.
But there is no room downtown. Where would it GO?? There isn’t the infrastructure downtown to support a venue large enough to attract big names. I don’t understand the logistics of putting a huge event center downtown.
There’s plenty of room. Take a walk around DT some afternoon. I could find at least 4-6 places.
Ah, but would there be enough room for the center plus parking? Then the issue is a garage or open? One is cheap but wastes space, the other expensive but saves space. Perhaps we all have different ideas of what constitutes downtown.
There is one thing working against them though, most people (voters) in SF are not progressive or visionary. Putting it DT would be both of those things and that scares the hell out of residents.
I see nothing wrong with being a realist.
There’s plenty of room. Take a walk around DT some afternoon. I could find at least 4-6 places.
The Sanford “Events” Center building itself will take up 300,000 square feet. That means the short side of the building will be 450 to 500 feet wide. So again, just where exactly is it going to go?
I have often felt, “What it costs” needs to be left off the table. For several reasons. 1) Doing something right, sometimes requires more money 2) If we would pay for the majority of the Center with private investors cost would not be an issue.
I have often felt, “What it costs” needs to be left off the table.
What the building is going to cost is going to be much higher than $100,000,000.00. Additional parking which it will desperately need will tack on around $20,000,000.00. How about street improvements for God knows how many million? And don’t forget the land acquisition of the entire block the Johnstone warehouse sits on. We hear a lot about DT land values doubling in the past ten years, (I’ll never understand WHY) so how much we gonna pay for that? And the Railroad relocation program? Millions of dollars in federal pork that you and me eventually will pay for.
So what are we gonna get for it? Downtown parking ramps that will have a 50% vacancy rate 350 days out the year, 80% on most weekends. Who’s gonna pay for $20,000.00 a spot parking spaces Scott? You? Me? That’s right. You and me.
Again I will ask, why is it Sioux Falls has it’s own set of socio-economic principles that are unique only to us?
Any City you can think of that’s built a facility in the last decade has made the call to build it downtown. Economic Impact and potential Economic Development being reasons 1 and 1a as to why. All of these facilities came up for a vote and all passed, like the most recent in Lincoln earlier this year with 56% voting yes.
Why is it we are so prone to think small and more importantly, elect people who think small as well?
BTW, the Mayor has been exposed as a complete liar in this process. Bash Munson all you want, but we have never seen a slicky boy, car salesman who wants so desperately (and will step on anyone along the way) to be Governor as our Mayor before this.
i’m surprised more hasn’t been made of the spat between heuther and hildebrand.
Hildebrand would have never signed on with Huether had Mike been honest with him up front that it was the Arena come hell or high water. Had Hilde not ran Mike’s Campaign or had run of the other ones, no way would Mike be where he is today.
The Mayor is now claiming he wasn’t trying to sound supportive of a downtown Events Center, whether that was privately to his friend who goes back 20 years to their days at SDSU or with downtown shop owners who all mysteriously heard him say basically the same thing during his campaign.
Bullshit Sy, Hildebrand helped Huether for one reason, $$$. And I don’t hold it against him. He is a fantastic strategist and deserves to get paid for what he does. But don’t make this out to be a ‘philisophical’ thing. The only thing Hildy has in common with Mike is a (D) behind their names.