Don't Build The Block

This is a simple piece of advice I can give regarding the proposed downtown museum.

Third District Councilman Bob Manning made some very strong comments and observations on the museum this week to which I agree 110%. So I won't try to restate or rehash anything he said here. You can listen to his comments over at The Peoria Chronicle.

Some thoughts I'd like to point out are:

1. How is all this marketing being funded? It costs money to pay for the TV ads, light post banners, newspaper ads, etc. Is this coming out of all the donations the museum has received from the few supporters it has? I'm sure these people meant for this money to be used for brick and mortar purposes, not for campaigning.

2. Should a referendum be held asking Peoria County taxpayers to foot the bill to "build the block," you can expect, as Mr. Manning predicts, heavy marketing on this project as to why voters should vote yes. Will this all be paid out of donations already received for the building of the museum? Will there be a organized group to counteract this campaign? We will need one.

3. Mr. Manning talks about a "Plan B" if there is not enough attendance to support this boondoggle. Is there even any kind of business plan at all? The museum supporters and organizers continue to ask for more time to raise funds. They also keep throwing out different and higher projected costs to build. Do they even know what they are talking about? How do they even put together their projections? It appears there is no plan whatsoever and the fact remains that they do not have a very good track record if you ask me.

The support for this museum is very weak, at best. If it had strong support from the public, the museum organizers would be much, much further than they are now. It's time to stop wasting the people's time, money and resource and just give it up. But they will not and the city council has voted to let them continue. My real fear is that a referendum will come up to raise sales tax to pay for this clunker and the voters will approve it. After that, we will be stuck with this tax forever.

Common Sense of it All: Like Mr. Manning, I too have zero confidence in the museum. I have posted on this blog before about how I believe that it is destined to fail. I don't see how it will ever support itself. Once a tax is enacted, it will never go away; especially with this project. God in Heaven above won't even be able to reverse this tax as the museum will indefinitely need public funding to operate. Councilman Bob Manning gets an A+ in common sense!