Well, Mr. Evans, What Will It Be?
Warren Evans said that he would have a recommendation for the Fail Jail site by the end of July. That is today. I hope it is not delayed further.
Summing up my own feelings is easy. Saying "yes" to the Gilbert-Gores plan is unabashedly the better deal. Among other positives the soccer stadium scenario would:
1) Provide more county jail capacity for the county than any version of the Walsh jail proposal.
2) Provide more and brand new juvenile detention, court, administrative, and associated support space than the Walsh proposal, which hardly touches on those elements.
3) Caps county costs with any overrun or delay related costs picked up by the GG team.
4) Create more construction jobs, as two large projects would be built from the ground up.
5) Generate more tax revenue for the county [[as well as the city and state), both because current county property would be turned private and taxable, and because more people would live, work, and spend money in Detroit than otherwise.
6) A major corner of central downtown would have an exciting project that would have residents, hotel guests, office workers, retail employees, and soccer & event fans & personal coming downtown that otherwise would not be.
7) Detroit almost certainly would be awarded an MLS franchise with a "yes" on the stadium. It would remain a possibility if the answer were "no," but not a sure thing, and perhaps significantly further down the line.
8) The current and proposed Fail Jail and associated criminal justice buildings are ugly as hell; full completion would not improve the aesthetics in any meaningful way.
9) The Fail Jail, if constructed [[or left withering) will forever be a shameful and very public memorial to governmental corruption and incompetence. The GG plan allows that to be buried in the past, rather than a daily reminder.
10) The stadium/high rise proposal would bring in additional foot traffic to downtown, and with it more customers for other nearby businesses.
11) A successful stadium will rightfully raise the value of surrounding property, and help attract further downtown investment.
I hope a decision gets announced today, and we can turn the page to find a new and exciting chapter in Detroit, Wayne County, and Michigan. Mr. Evans you have correctly done your due diligence by making both parties raise and tweak their proposal. But the merits of the one are vastly more than the merits of the other. That is not a knock on the Walsh Construction team or their proposal [[which seems to be a fair and straightforward construction plan). Please do everyone a favor, and vote with the future of our city & county, and not the past. Say "Yes" to the stadium!
