Tearing it down would be stupid. But the intial building of it was even stupider.
How much did did it cost? Almost $200,000,000 14 years ago.
If that money would have been invested in US Treasuries how much would it be? $450,000,000
If invested in and combo of US stocks and bonds? $600,000,000
NOBODY in their right mind can tell me that the city has recieved even a fractional amount of benefit relative to cost.
The money should have been: either 1)never collected (was 1/2 cent sales tax for 5 years) 2)invested in schools 3)invested in infrastructure or 4)put into a investment "rainy day" fund
Just imagine what the city could do right now to downtown with $600,000,000 to spend on upgrading downtown infrastructure.....the city would be on a whole different level.
Now Birmingham, AL is about to make the same mistake (or atleast try). But they want to spend twice as much as SA did, and build a dome that has even less of a use. I wish someone from SA would testify to the state legislature over in AL how much of a waste of capital it was to build the dome.
Last edited by austin356; Feb 16, 2007 at 12:16 AM.
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