I saw this coming. I KNEW this was NOT going to work. Instead, it was shoved down our throats and up our #%%#@ anyway. All the excitement of being downtown, living downtown, revitilizing downtown. But, when it comes right down to it, and putting actual money down to back your commitment, no one REALLY wants it. Where are ALL of those people? My feeling is….there were no people….

What’s next on the horizon for Harrison Square, Section 8 housing? Nothing beats a guaranteed monthly check from the Federal government.

Ya know, Dan….every time this subject comes up, I keep hearing this song in my head, from a old group called the STEVE MILLER BAND…

Any guesses as to WHICH song I keep hearing?

B.G.
(betcha Dan has already heard it…over and over and over)

Okay, I’ll bite. Macho City?

Nah, Take the Money & Run! I kinda figured that when those condo developers offered reservations with refundable deposits, it was nothing more than a PR trick to convince people of the viability of this boondoggle. After all the PR and propaganda, this pig still stinks.

“Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’, into the future ….”

Speaking from experience, if you offer ANY thing (house,condo,car,etc) for sale with a REFUNDABLE deposit, your hopes of true commitment are pretty freakin’ slim. They call it EARNEST MONEY for a reason, you tender it in earnest.

*DING DING DING*
…we have a WINNER!

Jim NAILED it…!
TAKE THE MONEY…AND RUN

You get an all-expense paid “NO-TRI” to the condo of your choice at beauitiful COSTAPLENTY SQUARE!
(courtesy of Shitilink…I mean CITILINK)

Thanks for playing, everyone.

B.G.
(now to find Dan that “BEST OF Steve Miller” CD on eBay)

Earnest money. Ha! I was just discussing this with a local realtor yesterday. 20 some years ago when I sold real estate, an earnest money depost was a minimum of $1000. Today it still is? What gives? Shouldn’t it hurt? Shouldn’t it show commitment? Shouldn’t it be an amount of money that strikes fear in the heart of the potential buyer that they don’t want to lose that chunk of change? Guess I am all wet….probably is best I am studying to appraise rather than to sell.

Where are all the top executives and business owners who wrote editorials in support of Harrison Square, saying it was a good investment of taxpayer’s money, and that it was NOT “just a baseball stadium”??? The Sweetwater Sound owner, the local Chase Bank President, the insurance executives/salesmen, the YLNI members, our former Mayor, our former Deputy Mayor, former City Council members, and various phonies who publicly supported this taxpayer funded project but secretly had no intention of investing any of their own hard earned cash in the project, but simply wanted to appear as being positive economic development leaders for their own selfish business images, etc., etc. — why don’t you all step forward now and buy a condo?! If HS was really only to be a combination of condos, hotel, AND baseball stadium, why did the city allow taxpayer money out the door for the stadium before it was verified that the condo project would be successful? Apparently the developers don’t want to take the speculative risk, just like the taxpayer’s don’t (didn’t)! Until the developer evidenced a financing commitment from a construction lender willing to fund a spec condo and retail project, and until evidence came forth that the project could sell, not ONE dime of taxpayer’s money should have been spent on the baseball stadium! Mark Becker said, “HS is not just about a baseball stadium”. How about building an interstate through downtown Fort Wayne like all the other “comparable” cities that have baseball stadiums downtown to accomodate travelers in finding where the heck downtown Fort Wayne is in the first place, and allow easy access and exit from downtown?. You want downtown development to successfully take place? Then either get an interstate thru downtown, if not, then swallow the fact we are a small midwest town with natural growth around its outlying interstate areas and quit forcing projects that the private investors and developers and taxpayers say are not viable.

That so-called “committment” by Tom Henry a short time after he became mayor was just an insincere public relations gimmick.

Is there anything about this administration you can believe?

Yeah, EARNEST money…is that like:
“Hey Vern..it’s Earnest”?

Now THAT I can believe.

Pat: We can always assign the blame for non-committal to “global warming”, OR “the economy”, right?

B.G.
(gathering up ALL those we told ya so’s)

Sam T. — Where art thou?

Where is Scott Glaze, Tim Pape, Ottenweller, et al?? Where is Tim Manges, Mark Becker, and how about the guy who has made the most money(non-refundable, by the way), Mr. Martin????

Unfortunately the county is learning bad habbits from the city in the form of the Maplecrest extension. Nobody wants it, but it’s full steam ahead anyways.

So let’s see.

Kitty Hawk facility - 26 million

“Regional” Public Safety Academy - 26 million

Harrison Square - 160 million

Maplecrest Extension - 55 million

Damn I need to get on this gravy train.

Well looking at the boondoggles that Matt listed, at least there is hope that one will turn out to help the city. I know that at least one of the two companies looking at the Kitty Hawk facility is a solid company and if they move into town, 300 to 400 decent paying jobs would follow. By decent, I mean $20.00/hr or more.

That said, I also know that the City/County could screw this up and we don’t get anything out of it.

shoeginmachine (is that correct? thought it was sloegin machine) You realize that any company looking at coming into Fort Wayne will need to go through the Fort Wayne/Allen County “screw-up machine” in our City-County Office building where the odds are very good that you are correct and we are sucking the rear-most( al la the Salvation Army/McDonalds -North Wells Street deal which went to the north of us.