As the JSEB used to say, before they got enamoured over the unfilled "hole" on the riverfront, "the failure of the Peoria Park District to raise the donations and "earmarks" to complete the new African Exhibit may be a forewarning to the museum planners". (JSEB Editorial 2007 - I'll find the exact date later). Now considering this $640,000 effort to get a 1/4% majority to vote yes (out of approximately 30,000 votes is clearly not a mandate that people will flock to this site to the tune of 360-400 thousand per year and fill 55,000 hotel rooms.
What happened is that the general populace rejected this project and that includes the populace who didn't show enough interest to even vote.
Do the museum promoters believe these non-voters are going to be big museum fans?
and what happened to the $10,000,000 the CEO Roundtable Executives were going to raise? Is that the $10 million that the JS says is coming from the State of Illinois? I would not be surprised.
We will see, as the JSEB said these "forebodings" of things to come.
6 comments:
Hey Merle, the vote WAS a mandate. The only place where a majority is not enough to get something done is in the US Senate.
The museum will flop. People may go once out of morbid curiosity, but that will be that. What a tremendous waste of money in this economy. To think that people will flock to Peoria and fill hotel rooms for a museum is nothing short of extraordinarily naive.
merle, i appreciated your effort in getting your opinion out on the block project. although i voted no on the project, I am not terribly upset that it passed. i am amazed though in the irresponsibility of the block group and their continued support around it, all the while the continued lack of support from the community (as showed by the vote results).
I have young children that will hopefully be able to attend the museum when built (if we can afford the admission). this is the single reason I am not disappointed with the election result. the main disappointment is the fact that not only are we supporting this museum in its current state (with the sales tax increase), but the fact that the taxpayers will essentially own this project for the remainder if its life. lets face it, everyone (with the exception of the supporters and the authors of the study) know that the projected attendance and revenues are completely inflated. this project will suck so much cash from the taxpayers (to be able to continue operating once the inflated attendance numbers do not show up) that the 1/4% sales tax will be the least of our worries. This is the sole reason I have grave concerns regarding the project.
Merle, I truly appreciated the views you gave on the project. I am disappointed in the other county board members who would not definitively provide their opinion on the project. At this point, I will sit back and let the economy stimulate (as the supporters state the project will do), and reap the benefits we have been promised. I hope there will be a watchdog in this process, as I feel the 1/4% is the least of our concerns.
I hope to be alive to witness it's successes and failures...and of course to write a LTR or two and blog some of the facts.
Thanks to all who contributed to this effort that was certainly not in vain.
I hear that, in effect, 8% of the county voted for the museum. Have the backers started calling it a mandate yet?
The museum will succeed. People will go often out of intellectual and cultural curiosity, and that will be that. What a tremendous investment of money in this economy. To think that people recognized visitors will come to Peoria and use our hotel rooms for a museum in addition to other amenities is nothing short of extraordinarily progressive.
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