Letters
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/news/editorial/17060153.htm
See "Attract super eateries to revitalize downtown"
Smooth dude, lame duck cut deal
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/17061088.htm
Letters to the editor
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/17061087.htm
See "A slow-pitch squandering of cash"
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Local Opinions
Posted by scott spaulding at 4/11/2007 07:45:00 AM
Labels: Opinion
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10 comments:
so, i'm guessing Merica wants something like Northwood Plaza's Cinema Grill downtown--that would be a whole new project within itself.
Downtown already has plenty of restaurants; i still say the stadium will do a better job of livening up Downtown.
Gregg - Thanks for your letter - If it wasn't so "true-to-life", it would furnish belly-laughs to enable us to live many, many more years. How many of us in our town feel this way? We need a way to be heard by all of our elected officials. What can we do ? John K.
Wow, what a dark, seedy picture Mr. Kurtz paints of a "Smooth Dude" and a "Lame Duck". I had no idea Harrison Square was a product of a massive scheme brought about by Hardball Capital owners sipping cognac and smoking fine cigars one night. If Mr. Kurtz has a chance, he should visit the Baseball PLUS Committee’s Report that is available on the city’s website (www.cityoffortwayne.org). In particular he might read pages 23 and 24 of the report which discuss the committee’s recommendations. It is precisely this “paranoia” type of thinking exhibited by Mr. Kurtz that has paralyzed Fort Wayne from moving forward for many prior decades.
In response to the Dude and Duck post and so that we're all on the same page here...
The whole ballpark process was in the works before Hardball ever came onto the scene. The Blueprint Plus report that suggested a downtown baseball facility is what got Hardball interested in the team. They weren't involved in the study, they acted as a result of the study.
Also, nobody within Hardball has threatened to pick up the team and leave. If Harrison Square doesn't happen, Hardball has said they would simply stay at Memorial Stadium because the team has been well supported. However, major renovations will still need to be made at Memorial Stadium to make it a competitive facility.
Baseball PLUS and similar documents are available to download on the right side of the blog under, "Suggested Reading."
In regard to the Baseball Plus report - Per one of the members of this committee, NO VOTES WERE EVER TAKEN AT ANY BASEBALL PLUS MEETING - So who is it that wrote the recommendations? Santa Claus? John K.
And Andy - where do you get the notion that nothing progressive has happened in Fort Wayne for decades? Have you yet visited the new world-class downtown library - or any of our rebuilt library branches? Have you been inside any of the new downtown bank buildings recently? Have you driven by (or visited the open-houses) at GM Truck & Bus? Have you shopped at Jefferson Pointe yet? Have you seen the new Football Stadium at the University of St. Francis and the new buildings on this campus? How about the 12 new buildings on the Indiana Tech campus, just to the east of where some want to build a new baseball stadium? I could go on & on, but I guess your area of interest just resides in one place in our town. You know that, other than the library items mentioned - all these were done with very little public tax dollars! John K.
A list of the 22 people who served on the Blue Print PLUS Committee can be found on page 6 of the report. I was unable to find Santa Claus on the list, but I did notice that Jack Swarbrick is listed as the facilitator of the group. As the report states, “Mr. Swarbrick has been a central figure in the development of Indianapolis’ sports-based economic development strategy … “
I believe Mr, Swarbrick is currently involved with helping to submit the bid for Indianapolis to host the 2011 Super Bowl. The winning bid for the 2011 Bowl will be announced on May, 23 of this year.
Regarding Mr. Kurtz’s editorial that painted a “doom and gloom” outlook for Harrison Square, I feel his portrayal is about as “true-to-life” as pigs flying. Yes, I’m a frequent visitor to the downtown public library, and I do shop at Jefferson Pointe. I applaud the additions that Indiana Tech has made. And, speaking of Indiana Tech, the President of the University, Arthur Snyder, wrote a terrific letter to the Journal Gazette on March 18 of this year, offering his full support for Harrison Square. Here’s a quote from the letter:
“Indiana Tech supports the Harrison Square project because it will help us attract talented students and because it will lead to more opportunities for those students when they graduate. But, more importantly, we support Harrison Square because it bodes well for the future of Fort Wayne.”
I couldn’t have said it any better Arthur.
Unknown anonymous - Have you talked to any of the 19 members of the BB Plus committee? Do you want me to give you some phone numbers so you can ask if they voted on the "published recommendations" or not. I wasn't there at the meetings so I am just quoting one who was. John K.
John K., you are going to lose this fight b/c the facts are the facts. The owners of Hardball Capital had nothing to do with the proposal of the stadium downtown and they have never said once that they will ever move it if Harrison Square doesn't happen. I'm very disappointed that the Sentinel would let this low quality writing in to their newspaper so loose on facts but also written so poorly...
Katie
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