Opposing Viewpoints III

Letters to the editor
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/16597308.htm

Stadium isn’t only answer in town

As Fort Wayne enjoyed the fullness and richness of the days before Christmas, the mayor, with county commissioners and City Council members in tow, held a press conference delivering a proclamation for the construction of a downtown baseball stadium complex, the so-called Harrison Square. Beyond the appearance of informing the public with a press conference, our local government essentially issued a decree: This enormously expensive project shall occur without the public’s input or vote. Recoiling from a clear rejection of the idea by savvy taxpayers, the mayor has simply decided he must sell the public. Now, with infomercials running on local television and splashy graphics on the front page Sunday morning, local media have become complicit in the sell-job.

I have loved baseball since I played Wildcat as a boy. I enjoy taking our family to occasional Wizards games. The idea of a downtown stadium may be a good one, but a few questions ought to be answered:

♦What are our objectives?
♦Why downtown?
♦Is a downtown baseball stadium the best way to achieve these objectives?
♦Who benefits?

If our elected officials can answer these questions in a transparent way, and if citizens have a say in capital improvements undertaken by the city, then the robust discussion and public examination should lead to a wise decision.

Should taxpayers fund a downtown baseball stadium? The mayor’s office reports that “no increase in property taxes will be needed to pay for the project.” Considering that more than 27,000 new Fort Wayne residents have recently been annexed, have had their taxes increased and are filling the till with tax revenues, this may be true. City officials also said “municipal bonds will be repaid with revenue from a variety of taxes that are generated by the proposed adjacent hotel and by the development itself.” Caution: Some of this revenue is based on assumptions of use and projections of activity and is, therefore, at risk. With unfunded city obligations, sewer taxes rising and a huge school project looming, taxpayers are justified in questioning this use of their money.

Consider also that IPFW breaks ground this spring on a 150-room hotel across from the current Wizard Stadium and the Coliseum, a location with excellent vehicle access, plenty of parking and great capacity. Built just more than a dozen years ago, Wizard Stadium provides a safe, accessible, professional ballpark. Best of all, the stadium is paid for. Now we are told we should duplicate this existing project and shoehorn it in downtown – with inadequate infrastructure, more public debt and limited accountability – as part of a larger project with a price tag almost 80 percent of the city’s entire 2007 budget. Comparisons to Indianapolis and the new Colts Stadium are silly. A better comparison is the Gary SouthShore RailCats Stadium (U.S. Steel Yard). It’s a similar market for a similar project funded a similar way. Opened in 2003, what economic growth has resulted from the stadium (separate from the riverboat casino)? Enough public data exists to assess the potential of a downtown stadium, as well as the success of a privately vs. publicly funded project. Where’s the homework to complement “years of work” on this project?

Whatever the objectives, an a priori decision for a downtown stadium undermines the opportunity for a grassroots swell of support, for a full embrace by the public, especially as funding problems plague other elements of city government. The Grand Wayne Convention Center cost more than $42 million, and hotel occupancy downtown still averages less than 40 percent. We spent more than $32 million expanding the Memorial Coliseum. We built a world-class $85 million library system. Now taxpayers face an enormous price tag to stabilize our schools.

If the objective is to re-energize Fort Wayne’s downtown as a place where people live and go, day and night, then we should first acknowledge the urban concept of downtown as a neighborhood itself. Thousands of families live here and buy groceries, medicine, gas, clothes, hardware, lumber and household items, use the parks and go out occasionally for dinner and a show.

Ask them, and they might more appreciate a Scott’s grocery and pharmacy or a Do It Best hardware store downtown more than a stadium.

Breathing new life into any downtown requires an investment in the neighborhood that is its foundation. Currently, people who live and work downtown are forced to leave to shop for items of daily life. Our downtown will enjoy a wonderful renaissance when business people, families and ordinary folks choose to be downtown each day, complemented by the artificial draw of those who come for a couple hours maybe 70 out of 365 days. The urban core of the city doesn’t have to be a way of life or a special event; it can be both. But it can only be sustained, day-in and day-out, if it is integrated as a vital neighborhood. This is the secret to every successful urban core. Absent that integration, a stadium will belong to everyone and to no one, and downtown will still roll up and close most days at 5 p.m.

We deserve public officials who do their homework, make their best case and then listen to the people being asked to pay for it. One’s yearning to leave a legacy or the desires of land speculators, bond attorneys, lawyers and select developers should not drive a decision to build a project whose only legacy may be a mountain of debt for city and county families to pay. Build instead on the foundations of family, neighborhood and community, and they will come.

Matt Kelty conservative candidate for mayor

Get the facts on project firsthand

All community-based projects need us to attend open meetings, listen to the facts and respond with our informed ideas. As citizens, our job is to develop informed opinions.

Recently “straw poll” votes have been conducted about the most recent of these projects, Harrison Square. As in the past, most straw poll participants likely have not talked with anyone directly involved in the project. A two-minute TV news story or a newsprint summary is no match for an involved discussion – such as the discussion on Harrison Square you are invited to at 6 p.m. today at North Side High School. The discussion is sponsored by the Northside Neighborhood Association.

To help inform the public, Mayor Graham Richard recently announced that a speakers bureau is available to lead a discussion about the Harrison Square development project. If you miss today’s discussion please contact Deputy Mayor Mark Becker’s office at 427-1111 for the next scheduled discussion.

I saw what Councilman Sam Talarico Jr. recently pointed out about the Harrison Square project. He said he is often faced with opponents of the project, but after he explains that no general property taxes will be used, opponents soften their positions.

Fort Wayne needs your help. Major projects for improvement need informed input from all of us. Become an informed source.

Dan Wire, president Northside Neighborhood Association

A development catalyst downtown

I am encouraged to see a mixed-use development proposed for downtown Fort Wayne. As a founding member of the Young Leaders of Northeast Indiana’s Downtown Development Committee, I have come to realize that there is not one single key to revitalizing our downtown. However, the proposed Harrison Square development is not just one destination or use. It combines retail, housing, lodging and parking with the baseball stadium so that users can enjoy all the amenities that the downtown has to offer.

Too often I read or hear people say, “There has to be something other than a baseball stadium.” The proposed Harrison Square is more than just a stadium.

Also, please consider the actual amount of private investment Hardball Capital is willing to make to Harrison Square. Hardball Capital has not only committed $5 million toward the stadium, but is also committed to the development of 60 new residential condo units and 30,000 square feet of new retail. Combined with the $5 million committed to the stadium, they will be pledging a large, private funded commitment to Fort Wayne and its downtown.

The city is committed to seeing our downtown revitalized. As a property owner and member of the community who chose not to contribute to the “brain drain,” I am thankful for this commitment. This commitment can be seen in the Harrison Square project as well as the 1,000-space parking garage to accommodate future growth.

Once you have examined the Harrison Square project in its entirety, I hope you will join me and encourage the City Council to support it. Again, there is not one magic answer to downtown revitalization, but the city and Hardball Capital should be applauded for joining forces to start Harrison Square as a catalyst for further development.

Heather Schoegler