And because I haven't mentioned it for awhile . . .
Let's talk Harrison Square.
It's gonna happen, people. It's gonna happen because it's one of those vision deals that pols (particularly outgoing pols like Hizzoner, Graham Richard) love to leave behind as a legacy, and it's gonna happen in spite of polls that indicate the citizenry stands four-square agin' it.
I've said before I'm not sure a downtown ballpark is a winning move, but I also think if you tie it into a larger development project like Harrison Square, with track-record developers like the new Wizards owners fronting a lot of the money and expertise, that can't be a bad thing for Fort Wayne. Yeah, an initial investment of $63 million of yours and my money is a stiff hit. And yeah, most of us seem to be against it, which has prompted the argument that we shouldn't do it because the will of the people says we shouldn't.
Let me tell you why that's an absurd argument.
If we went purely by the will of the people all the time, here's what would never have happened here: Pretty much anything and everything that involved the spending of public money. That includes the expanded Grand Wayne Center, the expanded public library, the expanded Memorial Coliseum, Memorial Stadium, the South Side and North Side renovations, you name it.
I grew up in this town and have an innate fondness for it, but let's face it: If we had a city motto, it would be "Fort Wayne: Good Enough As It Is." The Coliseum's good enough as it is. The library's good enough as it is. The schools are good enough as they are. On and on.
You can always come up with reasons why something won't work. It is, in fact, what we do best here. The great cities -- and we can either decide we want to be one, or continue to be the sleepy backwater we've always been -- decide to push ahead in spite of those reasons, recognizing that every project that carries the promise of significant reward also entails a certain amount of risk. It's how great cities get to be that way.
There. Said my piece.
-- Ben Smith