Museum Letters of Support

Between weeping and gagging I'm been reading Pro-museum supporters letters to the editor of the JS. Some of them haven't ever taken their kids to Lakeview Museum, the best general purpose museum between St. Louis and Chicago. The one guys kids are grown and moved from the area. Maybe a Cat visitors center and downtown museum will cause them to move back.

What one letter writer will really be saying to his kids or grandkids is that "we did build the museum but most people can't afford to pay to see what's inside. And the taxes have risen so high in Peoria, that many people have moved out of the city". And the PRM no longer offers the 15% discount to locals. Sorry, kids but we can go to the Caterpillar Visitors Center since it's free. What, you mean I have to pay there too? Well, kids we can look through the windows."

The JSEB made several bo-bo's today like the one that said the parking garage is costing $6 million. The parking garage is costing over $9 million, $4 hopefully from the stimulus bill, opps, earmark, and $4 already "in hold" from the 2007 Highway Transportation Bill, Another LaHood "earmark"'.

Who were the ones saying Caterpillar would move out town if the they don't get a Visitors Center? A Visitor's Center that most stockholders and fired and laid off ex-Caterpillar workers hope they don't build, but would take that money and pay off some of Caterpillar's heavy debt load. Maybe increase the value of depressed Cat stock and hire some laid off and fired workers back. The museum promoters and some city council people and some people scared of their own shadow were the ones trying to scare people into a "yes" vote. We have a lot of those in the Peoria, you might say they have a "Big Yellow streak".

Accusing some who are just "aginers"? Let's add up all the big construction successes we have had in Peoria and ask a single question. Where's the population growth? Illinois grew 3.2% and Peoria grew 0.5% from 2000-2007. The Peoria region grew 1.5%. (Courtesy of a study paid for by the United Way)Some growth. Oh, I know why we didn't grow much, we didn't have the PRM and VC. Since 2007, probably no growth at all and when all these taxes on the horizon come home to roost, expect more homeowners going than coming.

Oh, I forgot about all those tourists and conventioneers taking up 55,000 more hotel rooms. This hotel figure courtesy of Dr.s Scott and Lewer from Bradley U. Hope a lot of them are home buyers and property tax payers to relieve some of the burden on those off us being billed property taxes way beyond the value of our property.
But if they don't settle here, at least this $136,000,000.00 expenditure will make our kids a lot smarter than they are today. Guaranteed by all the educators who wrote LTE and got them printed. Some who wrote letter giving a different outcome, never had their letters printed.

Hmmmmmmmm.