Wall Street Journal on DIA Proposals

[WaCoTS]

thats true, many of the cars in bubbles are not worth that much per se, certainly not compared to a VanGogh, but i think Orr might view selling them off as less damaging to the DHM than selling art would be to the DIA; that was the point i was basically making.

And as far as i know, not many of any of them are actually in running condition. which, yes, lowers their value, but i dont think many people buying a Stutz Bearcat would want it for driving purposes anyway; it would prolly just be one of these rich private collectors who has a big building full of such cars. basically similar to an art collector.

selling Fort Wayne itself...yeah good luck on that, lol. the city has wanted to be rid of that place for years--its not as if people are chomping at the bit to buy it. there are lots of logistical issues involved, not only the fact that it sits in an ugly smelly part of the city. first, you have the fact that it is still basically owned by the US Department of Interior...yeah, they have "deeded" most of it to the city, but as far as i know the city does not have complete, free, and utter "ownership" of it; the feds could theoretically say they want it back. the city might be able to sell it legally, but again, i have doubts about that, especially in pawn for debt. they can sublease it, that's all i know for sure. next is the issue of the Army Corps of Engineers' boatyard and the FEMA office. they still retain control of a significant chunk of the fort's acreage, and vehicle access to that site is currently through a shared gate. also is the issue of site contamination...let's face it, if you were to do soil tests here you'd probably find contamination that would affect redevelopment costs. last, is the issue of the Indian Mound. that piece of land has been deeded back to the tribes. the entire Fort Wayne site [[and truth be told, much of SW detroit) is an indian burial ground, and a sacred site to many different tribes. people in City Hall know this. if the Fort Wayne site were simply put on the market, that could potentially start a pretty big court battle with some casino funded tribes.

so i seriously, seriously doubt Historic Fort Wayne will be put on the chopping block. will the part-time PRD site manager's contract be renewed into 2014? now that is up for debate. He seems worried, haha.


Could Historic Fort Wayne be monetized?
That is a possibility, i suppose. Isn't that what we've wanted all along, lol? If it could be be taken on by some entity managing it as an attraction, or the city subleasing more blgs to other paying tenants [[hooray), that could make the site profitable. at present the Historic Fort Wayne Coalition's events such as Christmas at the fort, our weekend guided tours, and other site-users such as the soccer leagues and events like Oakapaloosa, in combined revenues fall just short of enough to cover the utility costs for the site from what i understand. Which when you think about it, is extraordinary, considering the odds, and that this revenue is being generated without paid full-time staff. imagine if we had the resources we needed to actually run and manage this place like it should be? how much revenue does Fort Mackinac generate? theres no reason why Fort Wayne can't be returned to what it was in the 1970s when the parking lot was constantly jammed with school busses, and a full staff was needed to keep up with it all. we still have the ability [[and the artifacts) to turn Fort Wayne back into an actual MUSEUM again; we just need money. we're working on grants, but we can only do so much.

time will tell what happens.

[Packman41]

And as far as i know, not many of any of them are actually in running condition. which, yes, lowers their value, but i dont think many people buying a Stutz Bearcat would want it for driving purposes anyway; it would prolly just be one of these rich private collectors who has a big building full of such cars. basically similar to an art collector.

I was wrong. They only have 62 cars in total.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/bu...nted=1&_r=1&hp

Cars include: 1982 Dodge mini-van, 1960 Corvair, 1970s AMC Pacer, Horace Dodge’s 1919 Dodge and a 1963 Ford Cougar prototype.

BTW, real, vintage car collectors DRIVE their cars, they do not just sit around as “art works”. These collectors show off their rare cars at concours-type events that raise money for charitable causes. So they need to be driven, even if it is just in and out of the delivery trailer. No one wants a non-running car in their collection.

Therefore, my estimate of the collection has dropped to maybe $1.25 million. Or about $0.21 per check for each pension recipient.

Hardly seems worth the effort.