When will this nonsense end?
The Erie Times-News reports today that the city--or some cockamamie development corporation attached to same--soon will break ground for a new convention center and hotel complex.
Construction of the hotel, a 203-room, eight-story Sheraton on West Dobbins Landing, won't start until the spring of 2006.
The convention center and hotel complex is to open in 2007.
The nearly $100 million project will be one of the largest in the county's history, creating 125 full-time construction jobs and 400 full-time jobs once in operation, about one-half of them from spinoff business.
Richards said he is "pleased and appreciative of everybody that helped. This proves when people work together what we can accomplish in Erie County."
A lawsuit by area hoteliers had created some question about whether the bond issue would proceed on schedule.
"If that (a delay) had happened, the project would have quickly fallen apart," Richards said.
Despite the issuance of bonds, the hoteliers are expected to proceed with their lawsuit, which challenges the legality of the county's 5 percent hotel room tax.
The hoteliers said the tax, which they must collect, is being used for the convention center project, subsidizing a hotel that will compete against them. The hoteliers also said the proposed Sheraton is too large and will siphon business from them.
Just curious: Is there a single example of a moribund economy being salvaged by such a facility? I know a lot of places where said investments have proved calamitous failures. Why do people keep buying this crap? It says something that the existing hotel owners, normally folks with some pull, failed to stop it in this case. If their lawyers can't get the job done, neither can yours. Hello, Kelo.
Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the convention center will be so much better than the hundreds that are already floundering in mid-sized cities across the country that Erie will become a thriving destination city.
I'm giving odds. Any takers?
