This latest revelation again begs the question of why it was thought to be such a good idea to try to renovate the very unremarkable Civic Centre complex, when it would likely have been possible to build a new stadium from scratch for about as much.
The answer, it is becoming increasingly clear, is that by tying the restoration of the stadium and the return of CFL football, to a scheme for the redevelopment of public lands at Lansdowne involving the construction of a private shopping centre, private condos and private office building -- the
de facto privatization of Lansdowne -- with the City's debt to be repaid through a magic money waterfall repayment system, that the City was being handcuffed to the private deal. Once both aspects of the deal were cemented in the public imagination, the chance that the City might back out to go it alone on redeveloping Lansdowne, or to build a new stadium elsewhere, was remote.
Bravo, Mr. Greenberg! Well played.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rocketphish
Corroded steel in Civic Centre boosts Lansdowne costs $17M
By David Reevely, OTTAWA CITIZEN December 31, 2013 11:01 AM
OTTAWA — Key steel supports in the Civic Centre at Lansdowne Park are were in much worse shape than anybody realized and the city and the private consortium renovating Lansdowne are arguing over whose problem it is to pay the $17-million bill.
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/ottawa...oosts+Lansdowne+costs/9337609/story.html
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