Comments on: Civic Arts Center plan dissolves http://www.saysuncle.com/2005/11/18/civic_arts_center_plan_dissolves/ Remember, I do this to entertain me... not you. Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:47:39 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: SayUncle http://www.saysuncle.com/2005/11/18/civic_arts_center_plan_dissolves/comment-page-1/#comment-38377 SayUncle Mon, 21 Nov 2005 21:39:48 +0000 http://www.saysuncle.com/archives/2005/11/18/civic_arts_center_plan_dissolves/#comment-38377 Damnedest thing, WP keeps eating the comment and it keeps re-appearing. Odd. RNeal said: This is sad. I was sort of ambivelent at first but mostly for it, and now that it was voted down I realize I was more for it than I though. There was a great full page ad in yesterday's Maryville Daily Times with a letter from all the local big-wig businesses, including Beale at Ruby Tuesday, Clayton at Clayton, West at West Chevrolet, etc. They strongly recommended the project and gave very good reasons. (Conventions or attracting business was not one of them, although they and others have said and I agree that professionals and the upscale demographic we'd like to have in Blount County will be more attracted and more likely to stay in Blount County with amenties such as this.) As for private funding, there was $20 million in private donatations on the table. I'm guessing that a lot of it came from the people who signed the open letter. According to the paper, Clayton said at the meeting last night that $15 million of it was now off the table, because those pledges were for a public facility, not a new Maryville College auditorium. So, the City of Maryville approved it, the City of Alcoa approved it, every major business leader in the community supported it (some probably with hard cash in large sums), newspaper editorials supported it, and there was widespread support among the community for it. But the County Commission decided to leave Blount County sucking the hind tit of Knoxville (and a pretty dry one at that) in terms of art and culture. Nice progressive move. At least my commissioner voted for it. I'll remember that come election time. Damnedest thing, WP keeps eating the comment and it keeps re-appearing. Odd. RNeal said:

This is sad. I was sort of ambivelent at first but mostly for it, and now that it was voted down I realize I was more for it than I though.

There was a great full page ad in yesterday’s Maryville Daily Times with a letter from all the local big-wig businesses, including Beale at Ruby Tuesday, Clayton at Clayton, West at West Chevrolet, etc. They strongly recommended the project and gave very good reasons. (Conventions or attracting business was not one of them, although they and others have said and I agree that professionals and the upscale demographic we’d like to have in Blount County will be more attracted and more likely to stay in Blount County with amenties such as this.)

As for private funding, there was $20 million in private donatations on the table. I’m guessing that a lot of it came from the people who signed the open letter. According to the paper, Clayton said at the meeting last night that $15 million of it was now off the table, because those pledges were for a public facility, not a new Maryville College auditorium.

So, the City of Maryville approved it, the City of Alcoa approved it, every major business leader in the community supported it (some probably with hard cash in large sums), newspaper editorials supported it, and there was widespread support among the community for it. But the County Commission decided to leave Blount County sucking the hind tit of Knoxville (and a pretty dry one at that) in terms of art and culture. Nice progressive move.

At least my commissioner voted for it. I’ll remember that come election time.

]]> By: SayUncle http://www.saysuncle.com/2005/11/18/civic_arts_center_plan_dissolves/comment-page-1/#comment-37385 SayUncle Fri, 18 Nov 2005 15:05:21 +0000 http://www.saysuncle.com/archives/2005/11/18/civic_arts_center_plan_dissolves/#comment-37385 I concur it would be good for BC but my concern is the cash is otherwise better spent on schools, roads, or, hell, just given back to the tax payer. If it's such a wonderful thing, then surely they can get these local GOBs to pony up the remaining $12M since they're already in it for $20M? And there's also the issue that the counties and cities fund the bulk of it and then turn it over to the college? IIRC, wasn't the $20M in private funds coming via Maryville College? I concur it would be good for BC but my concern is the cash is otherwise better spent on schools, roads, or, hell, just given back to the tax payer. If it’s such a wonderful thing, then surely they can get these local GOBs to pony up the remaining $12M since they’re already in it for $20M? And there’s also the issue that the counties and cities fund the bulk of it and then turn it over to the college?

IIRC, wasn’t the $20M in private funds coming via Maryville College?

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