Posted on 07/07/2022 2:49:02 PM PDT by Repealthe17thAmendment
Lightfoot or the next mayor will simply ask Pritzger for the money, and WALA!
Our taxes in Illinois will be raised. That’s how Daley would’ve done it years ago when he wanted the Olympics here.
Green Bay has lost the last 5 or 6 final playoff games at Lambeau Field.
They can’t play in the cold as they used to.
Union wages, kickbacks, you name it, they’ll add it onto the total bill, and WE will be taxed for it!
They built a shell around the original building to add to the overall floor space. The original exterior of the building is "preserved" inside the new exterior. There's a food court now on the north side which of course gives panoramic views of the city skyline. The lower level is completely remodeled, and if you remember the old optical shop in the lower level (where I was fortunate enough to finish off an 8" mirror with the help of the optical shop director at the time) is gone, replaced by new exhibits.
But the main interior sky theater is the big heart break for me. They replaced the original first class Zeiss projector with so-called modern digital special effect equipment which renders the sky poorly in my opinion. You can watch a bright star, for example, change in appearance as the star is "handed off" to a different sub-projector (so the entire sky is rendered by multiple projectors) as the sky is moved. Special effects are korny at best. But the per-show profit is higher since by removing the original Zeiss projector they got to put in more seats in the theater which of course probably was the motivation to mothball the Zeiss projector.
In all, very sad.
A special city committee is poised to recommend putting a dome over Soldier Field to keep the Chicago Bears from bolting to Arlington Heights,
Do Stadiums Increase Local Tax Revenues?
Stadium supporters often contend that a stadium will increase spending and property values, filling municipal coffers with added sales and property taxes that more than cover the cost of any subsidies. Unfortunately, I am not aware of any stadium that has produced a positive return on investment to its host municipality.
But This One Will Be Different!
In general, it is best to be skeptical of commissioned reports that forecast large economic returns, because such benefits should be evident in existing studies. Instead, they are rarely found. For policymakers, journalists, and interested citizens who wish to evaluate such claims, I recommend using a set of researcher-developed questions to rate the credibility of commissioned studies.
The Bottom Line
University of Chicago economist Allen Sanderson once said that “if you want to inject money into the local economy, it would be better to drop it from a helicopter than invest it in a new ballpark.” It’s a good line – and one to remember the next time your city, municipality, or state is asked to help pay for a sports stadium.
https://globalsportmatters.com/business/2022/06/15/so-your-city-wants-sports-stadium/
What a shame. I hope to visit it again someday, but I just might skip the sky show.
I tell ya, I’ve seen contracts for various building projects. It’s unreal, the pork in them.
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