[fastcarsfreedom]

Blitz--I absolutely can understand your frustration. I moved to Windsor in 1993 and distinctly remember looking at the proposed Arena in model form in the Compri Hotel shopping concourse--in fact, I believe the renderings are still there somewhere on the second floor. I have seen successful councils fumble the issue over-and-over--and clearly they were fumbling the issue again with Ice Track (although the Spits ownership group can shoulder some blame here too).

I suppose you are correct--Tecumseh was being somewhat subversive--as was Ice Track--but in the end, that is the nature of business. Ice Track was indeed negotiating with Tecumseh while trying to negotiate with Windsor. On the other hand, Windsor was out soliticing for east-end proposals while negotiating with Ice Track--six of one, half-dozen of the other. Regional-thinking is great--and I'd welcome it--but I've never seen it happen here. The first time I've heard Francis talk positively about regional thinking/planning was when he was asked about the impact of losing the track and slots to Tecumseh--suddenly it seems, he was on-side with regionalism.

I was amused/disappointed to see The Star run a wildly inaccurate prediction that Ice Track will fail in Tecumseh--I believe the columnist in question called it "the worst idea in Ontario since Copps Coliseum." He went on to deride Hamilton (my hometown for the first 19 years of my life) for having built Copps in the hope of securing an NHL team. He called it a white-elephant (it's actually a pretty active, and yes, profitable, venue for sports, entertainment and conventions) and then inaccurately referred to the AHL Bulldogs as "struggling" to attract fans--when in fact, their draw is on par with league average. Sad to see someone in Windsor unfairly and inaccurately malign another city--when in fact it is often Windsor that's on the receiving end of unfair comments such as that.

As a Windsor-ite you might be disappointed to see an arean in Tecumseh (I'd still prefer it downtown--and I live 5 minutes from Manning/401) but if ALL of us are going to start thinking regionally, we need to hope its successful WHEREVER it's built.