Archive for September 11th, 2008

Dateline - Fort Wayne Indiana September 11th, 2008..

The City of Fort Wayne, Parkview Health (a non-profit entity) and Hardball Capital, a.k.a. Barry Real Estate, today announced that the non-profit healthcare group known as Parkview has agreed to become the signature partner for the new downtown Harrison Square development. Parkview, (which for the record pays “zero” in property taxes), has agreed to make an annual commitment of $300,000 per year, $150,000 of which will be contributed directly to Jason Freier, Hardball Capital and Barry Real Estate.

The new downtown ballpark will be known as Parkview Field.

From the Journal Gazette, January 30th, 2007

One member of the audience asked why building a new stadium is so important when Memorial Stadium on Coliseum Boulevard is perfectly functional. Richard said the new stadium is part of an incentive package to get Hardball Capital, the owners of the Fort Wayne Wizards baseball team, to invest millions of dollars downtown in retail and housing.

Not only has downtown Fort Wayne experienced a lack of major investment for years, but it is unusual for mixed-use development ancillary to a baseball stadium be constructed at the same time as a stadium, the mayor said.

Richard stressed the entire project can be done without spending general property tax dollars.

“I think it’s a great deal,” Richard said. “It’s just vital for us to take advantage of this possibility.”

[.. Richard also said the city would be interested in selling the naming rights of the stadium to generate more income for the project.

Then on February 23rd, 2007 this.

Q. In conjunction with selling naming rights, is there any possibility for a 50/50 investment split on the ballpark?

Freier: I cannot comment on the precise terms of the deal we are working on with the City until that is finalized but I can say that we have expressed a willingness to, in addition to our investment in the City-owned ballpark and related development, share some revenue streams with the City and assume some of the operating costs in the City-owned facility.

So with today’s announcement we’re giving half of $3 million for the naming rights to Hardball Capital/Barry Real Estate et.al., in spite of the fact that they have not delivered on their promise to “invest millions of dollars downtown in retail and housing.”

So the snake oil salesman Jason Freier has pulled another fast one. The more important question here is what the hell is Parkview thinking? Maybe it’s because of the Wizard’s average “through the turnstile attendance” of just barely 2000 people in 2006, (in spite of reports of average attendance of 3,841). You see, they have this way of counting tickets printed and distributed as “attendance” while through the turnstile numbers are quite different. And maybe they can attract some of those people to their healthcare facilities instead of Lutheran’s because their name is on the gate. Yeah, that’s it.

Is Jon Boscia now running Parkview? No, it’s Michael Packnett, but wait a second, Packnett was also on the North River Task Farce. Not bad for a guy that just blew into town in 2006.

One funny thing I found here (Power Point file), was this.

HARRISON SQUARE
The risk of not doing anything:
Continued Downward Trend in Wages

Hot dogs, get yer hot dogs! I’d like to see the trending numbers once this thing is done.

Oh, and when is that Marriott Renaissance Courtyard going to open up? I can hardly wait to go spend the night there and experience..

Full service restaurant dining
Room service
Valet parking
Concierge service
Fitness center
Full service bar
High quality linens and furnishings

Oops. I mean park your own car, get a yummy pre-packaged cold sandwich from the vending machine and walk to the 412 Club for a cocktail. Oh damn I forget, you can always walk to the subsidized Subway for a sandwich.

Did you feel that?

AWB

Scott Fluhr has a post entitled “September 11 Chronology“, over at Hoosier Pundit. It’s worth reading.

AWB

And global warming.

Old Farmers Almanac: Global cooling may be underway

DUBLIN, N.H. — The Old Farmer’s Almanac is going further out on a limb than usual this year, not only forecasting a cooler winter, but looking ahead decades to suggest we are in for global cooling, not warming.

Based on the same time-honored, complex calculations it uses to predict weather, the Almanac hits the newsstands on Tuesday saying a study of solar activity and corresponding records on ocean temperatures and climate point to a cooler, not warmer, climate, for perhaps the next half century.

More here.

AWB

Obama or McCain?

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Two Russian long-range bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons will return to base from Venezuela in four days, the Russian Air Force was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying on Thursday.

The bombers, known in the West by the NATO codename “blackjacks,” were not carrying nuclear weapons during the flight to South America and will return to Russia on September 15, Russian Air Force commander Vladimir Drik told Interfax.

More here.

AWB

AWB

AWB

Do you really want Obama going against the Bear? Not me.

AWB

From the JG

INDIANAPOLIS – Would you be willing to pay more for a haircut, a plumber or even building a home in exchange for having no property taxes?

That’s the question raised Wednesday at a key summer tax panel by two conservative legislators pushing to expand the state’s sales tax to include services as a way to finance a complete elimination of homeowner property taxes.

More here.

I’m in a fund raiser golf outing for the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo today, but the site will automatically be updated throughout the day.

Fore! - AWB