CBC Arena Commentary: Exasperation
Last Wednesday, CBC Radio ran another of my commentaries. Here is the text of my remarks:
I looked up the word "exasperate" in the dictionary the other day and saw that it had several definitions. It means to "make very angry, "to annoy greatly" or "to trouble the nerves, specially by repeated vexations."
Doesn't that seem like the perfect word to describe why two of Windsor's most successful families, the Toldos and Rosatis, went public with their arena proposal? They had made a pitch to the City privately about their proposal, on May 29, but nothing had happened with it. So they acted to end-run Council to let Windsorites know what was going on.
Windsorites must feel exasperated when thinking about the 20 year arena saga. Why over the last year, the location of the arena has moved several times. It has gone from the Western Super Anchor site in the downtown to the Raceway in the West. It then went to the East End Greater Windsor Multiplex Arena site and is now back to "Project Ice Track" at the Raceway.
Tax-payers are exasperated too. The Beztak Group was run out of town by the Mayor and Council. Beztak had said it would build, operate and maintain a multi-use facility downtown without money from the City (although there were several conditions attached to their proposal). The Toldos and Rosatis wanted $15 million of taxpayer money for their Raceway arena. They said that they, not taxpayers, would be responsible for operations and cost overruns. Council, however, seems to want to go it alone at an East End arena. We are told that the amount involved there is $55-million plus some indefinite amount for land costs, architectural and project management costs and provisions for cost overruns.
Let's get real. This is not a fight over an arena; rather it is a fight to preserve the competitive position of Casino Windsor. After all, just after the Mayor was elected he said "We want to be partners with the casino, not compete with them or duplicate services they offer."
Isn't that the real reason why the Cleary had to be unloaded: it was in the convention business. Hand it off to a non-commercial, educational institution like St. Clair College. However, talk about reviving downtown and cloak it with "urban village" rhetoric when doing so.
Beztak...why they were going to build a multi-use facility and in the downtown…they had to go! An arena on the Super Anchor site would be a nearby Casino competitor.
The East End multi-plex looked like it might be a winner. We heard that the cluster of rinks in the area "would make the city a sports-entertainment destination for hockey tournaments and other ice sports." And developers wanted to build hotels out there too.
But a destination in Windsor other than the Casino... oh no. Do you really think that taxpayers will stand for an expenditure of well over $55 million so that the Spitfires's new multi-millionaire owners can have a place for their team to play? At the same time, we would have to close down local arenas.
So now we come to the Toldos and Rosatis. They want to make the Raceway and arena a Sports and Entertainment Destination too. A "Destination." There's that D-word again!
It will be a destination where there will be entertainment facilities, a Gretzky restaurant, Sports Hall of Fame, and hockey to draw people and keep them there. Obviously though, the main reason for all of it is SLOTS ---That's how they are going to make the real money. That means direct competition with the Casino in their core business, gambling.
Come on, do you think they have a chance after the Casino announced a $400 million expansion.
We are not being given the complete picture. The arena debate is a mere distraction. It buys time while the Casino complex is built. If the opinion of the Mayor and Council is that what is good for the Casino is good for Windsor, then tell us, so that we can have a true debate on the subject. Don't take actions piecemeal, and behind closed doors, designed to fool the
electorate.
That's why I am not exasperated. I am disgusted!
For CBC Radio, this is Ed Arditti.
I looked up the word "exasperate" in the dictionary the other day and saw that it had several definitions. It means to "make very angry, "to annoy greatly" or "to trouble the nerves, specially by repeated vexations."
Doesn't that seem like the perfect word to describe why two of Windsor's most successful families, the Toldos and Rosatis, went public with their arena proposal? They had made a pitch to the City privately about their proposal, on May 29, but nothing had happened with it. So they acted to end-run Council to let Windsorites know what was going on.
Windsorites must feel exasperated when thinking about the 20 year arena saga. Why over the last year, the location of the arena has moved several times. It has gone from the Western Super Anchor site in the downtown to the Raceway in the West. It then went to the East End Greater Windsor Multiplex Arena site and is now back to "Project Ice Track" at the Raceway.
Tax-payers are exasperated too. The Beztak Group was run out of town by the Mayor and Council. Beztak had said it would build, operate and maintain a multi-use facility downtown without money from the City (although there were several conditions attached to their proposal). The Toldos and Rosatis wanted $15 million of taxpayer money for their Raceway arena. They said that they, not taxpayers, would be responsible for operations and cost overruns. Council, however, seems to want to go it alone at an East End arena. We are told that the amount involved there is $55-million plus some indefinite amount for land costs, architectural and project management costs and provisions for cost overruns.
Let's get real. This is not a fight over an arena; rather it is a fight to preserve the competitive position of Casino Windsor. After all, just after the Mayor was elected he said "We want to be partners with the casino, not compete with them or duplicate services they offer."
Isn't that the real reason why the Cleary had to be unloaded: it was in the convention business. Hand it off to a non-commercial, educational institution like St. Clair College. However, talk about reviving downtown and cloak it with "urban village" rhetoric when doing so.
Beztak...why they were going to build a multi-use facility and in the downtown…they had to go! An arena on the Super Anchor site would be a nearby Casino competitor.
The East End multi-plex looked like it might be a winner. We heard that the cluster of rinks in the area "would make the city a sports-entertainment destination for hockey tournaments and other ice sports." And developers wanted to build hotels out there too.
But a destination in Windsor other than the Casino... oh no. Do you really think that taxpayers will stand for an expenditure of well over $55 million so that the Spitfires's new multi-millionaire owners can have a place for their team to play? At the same time, we would have to close down local arenas.
So now we come to the Toldos and Rosatis. They want to make the Raceway and arena a Sports and Entertainment Destination too. A "Destination." There's that D-word again!
It will be a destination where there will be entertainment facilities, a Gretzky restaurant, Sports Hall of Fame, and hockey to draw people and keep them there. Obviously though, the main reason for all of it is SLOTS ---That's how they are going to make the real money. That means direct competition with the Casino in their core business, gambling.
Come on, do you think they have a chance after the Casino announced a $400 million expansion.
We are not being given the complete picture. The arena debate is a mere distraction. It buys time while the Casino complex is built. If the opinion of the Mayor and Council is that what is good for the Casino is good for Windsor, then tell us, so that we can have a true debate on the subject. Don't take actions piecemeal, and behind closed doors, designed to fool the
electorate.
That's why I am not exasperated. I am disgusted!
For CBC Radio, this is Ed Arditti.
posted by JoeBlog at 6:20 a.m.
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